August 21, 2025 • 39 mins
From AFL powerhouse to Executive Director of Distribution at ARK Capital: Shane Wakelin’s story is one of resilience, reinvention, and leadership beyond the field.
Across 252 AFL games with St Kilda and Collingwood, Shane Wakelin built a reputation as a tough, reliable player who thrived under pressure. But what makes his journey remarkable is how he managed the transition into his second career.
The lessons from elite sport form the backbone of Shane's business approach. Working under Eddie McGuire and Mick Malthouse at Collingwood instilled a ruthless pursuit of excellence that continues to drive him today. The resilience that helped him bounce back from being dropped or losing grand finals became crucial when navigating uncertainty in business. His emphasis on finding strong mentors and maintaining curiosity has led to success.
Ready to hear how the discipline of professional sport translates to finance success? Listen now for insights that will change how you think about career resilience, leadership, and the importance of grinding through difficult transitions.
Follow Shane Wakelin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shane-wakelin-6619599b/
Visit the ARK Capital Fund's website: https://arkcapital.com.au/
Enjoyed the episode? Follow Finance Friends Podcast on Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok for daily updates and more inspiring conversations. Got questions or ideas for future episodes? Send us a DM @financefriendspodcast!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Welcome.
Hunched away by Wendell.
He is Still in the space Comingthrough Wake up.
He's never kicked a goal fromConlon, he has now.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Welcome back to Finance Friends, your personal
seat at the table with leadersshaping the financial world.
In this exclusive season, wemeet with high profile,
incredibly successful athleteswho achieve the greatest heights
on the sports field and are nowdominating the finance world.
(00:48):
On today's episode of FinanceTrends, we have the incredibly
insightful Shane Wakeland, whoplayed 15 years of football
across St Kilda and Collingwood251 games, or maybe 252 games
across the clubs.
Currently works as an executivedirector and head of
(01:09):
distribution at a private realestate credit fund called ARK
Capital.
He's an owner in the businessand has helped grow the business
by 400% in the last or over400% in the last three years, or
over 400% in the last threeyears.
He shares experience aboutplaying at Collingwood Football
(01:29):
Club and the demands andexpectations from Eddie McGuire
as the president, as well asMick Malthouse.
He shares his experiencetransitioning finance and it's
not always easy and howresilience is needed to be
successful to transition.
Listen to this episode.
Good morning, shane.
Welcome to the Finance Friendspodcast.
How are you today?
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Great, fabian, thank you for firstly inviting me, and
it's wonderful to be here.
We're only just talking brieflybefore, but I think I've done
one podcast previously, abouttwo years ago, and it's nice to
be here.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Well, it's good to have you on.
We've got a lot to offer.
I've seen we were just talkingabout Wimbledon and the tennis
just before we got on air and weactually met at the Australian
Open circa maybe five years ago,was it?
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Yes, it would have been, and it's actually become
one of those great days in thesporting calendar, hasn't it?
For?
Certainly and obviously, withthe overlay of it being a
financial services day, everyone from the industry, whether
it's fund managers, financialadvisors and everything in
between there but it's a greatFriday, that one.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
It is.
It's not much.
Tennis is watched.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
No.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
But lots of beverages are consumed and everyone's
having fun and socialising andnetworking in the beer garden,
which is great.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Yes, absolutely, and I have promised the team we'll
get a few of them along nextyear because it is it's one of
those great days and a greatgreat way to kick off the year
as well.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Yeah, so it'd be good to when we did meet five years
ago, a few years after finishingfootball.
So maybe just start us off bywhat are you doing now?
Who do you work for, To giveour listeners a bit of insight
into who you are as a financeprofessional.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Yeah, thanks, fabian.
Well, my journey's been, Iguess, multifaceted since I
retired from my first careerbeing AFL footy, and so I
retired at the end of 2008 and Ihad the education, didn't have
any experience, didn't reallyhave any on-job training, so I
was jumping in the deep end.
My first role was actually infinance, at Deloitte, in
(03:37):
corporate finance, and, geez, Iwas green.
I was surrounded by a heap ofthese young, up-and-coming stars
.
I was green, I was surroundedby a heap of these young,
up-and-coming stars, you knowPhD students in finance and
super, super smart acrossmultiple fields.
But I say I lasted four years.
I certainly didn't thrive inthat environment, but I
(03:57):
identified pretty early that youknow that corporate world
wasn't so much for me.
I'd come from an incrediblyrewarding 15 years playing AFL
football.
Great work-life balance youcouldn't call it work and you're
in control of your own destinyand you jump off the deep end
(04:20):
into a GFC, mind you, 2009.
But it really laid a wonderfulfoundation for me.
Firstly, in finance, Itemporarily went back into AFL
footy for a couple of years andthen pretty much the last 10 to
12 years since 2015, I've beenin property and then the last
(04:43):
six to seven years in fundsmanagement.
So I guess, when I'm very mucha reflective type and if I
reflect on my decision-makingpost-football, you know there's
certainly some decisions I wouldhave made differently, but I've
come to the conclusion that itjust is what it is.
You know my time going backinto AFL football, which was
(05:06):
ironically with St KildaFootball Club heading up
commercial operations, Ireconnected with a lot of
long-time St Kilda supporters,then some very successful people
in their own right, and they'vebecome an important part of my
life just for bouncing ideas onand ultimately and I'll touch on
(05:30):
that in a minute my currentbusiness partner, perry McDonald
, our MD of our capital, whichI'll touch on a little bit more
in a moment We've become greatmates at St Kilda.
So it's really interestingthose sliding doors moments.
So it's really interestingthose sliding doors moments, the
circle of life where youconnect with people you have
really strongly aligned valueswith that share similar interest
(05:55):
to you and at a point in timedown the pathway of life you
reconnect.
So I'm now a shareholder,executive director of
distribution and investorrelations at ARC Capital, so
we're a private real estate debtfund manager.
So we are largely allocatingcapital, raising capital and
(06:18):
allocating capital to thedevelopment phase of property
developments and, put simply, wefund developers in residential
land subdivisions, industrialland subdivisions and industrial
warehouse self-storage.
That's sort of our key area ofexpertise.
We currently manage about $450million in contracted funds
(06:40):
under management across 36projects around the country.
And, as I touched on before, Ijoined the business a little
over three years ago when wewere at sort of circa $60
million and I was invited intothe business through Perry he
had a couple of businesspartners at the time and the
(07:03):
planets aligned.
He had a couple of businesspartners at the time and the
planets aligned and I'd finishedfive, six years at a previous
fund manager where I'destablished the distribution
capital raising strategy thereLearned a lot.
I was pretty green when I comeinto the industry going back
eight years ago industry goingback eight years ago but I
(07:31):
learnt the whole matrix that is,financial services of research
and platform and bank-ownedprivate wealth groups, own
licensed for sales, investmentconsultants all the fun stuff
that you've known for many, manyyears.
And I guess it was just thatcuriosity and appetite to learn
which then ultimately landed meas a shareholder of ARC Capital,
and I think that that's reallybeen my attitude both during my
(07:55):
footy career and then post-footyis just continue to grind, have
a great curiosity forinformation, for learning, align
yourself with people a lotsmarter than yourself and
identify people who've gotreally strongly aligned values
and behaviours, and so that'ssort of in a nutshell, my last
(08:17):
15, 16 years.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
Yeah, well, it's really insightful.
Thank you for sharing and maybego into a bit more detail.
What does your role involve inexecutive director investor
relations distribution?
Can you share with our audiencethat might not understand the
terminology?
Speaker 1 (08:32):
What do you actually do?
Yeah, so, put very, very simply, we are like a private bank.
So, firstly, we identifyinvestors who are looking for
consistency of income as part oftheir overall investment
portfolio.
So, on any given day, I'll dealwith private wealth advisors,
(08:53):
ultra high net worth individualswho may be running a
self-managed super fund, familyofficers who have been investing
in this asset class for a longtime, and I just really talk to
them and understand what it isthey're wanting to achieve in
terms of this part of theirinvestment portfolio.
(09:15):
And then a critical part ofthat is talking about how we
allocate and the types ofprojects we allocate to how we
mitigate and manage risk in theprojects that we invest in.
So I sit on the investmentcommittee along with two of my
fellow shareholders andexecutive directors and our head
(09:38):
of origination execution team,so I'm really passing knowledge
on the individual projects thatwe invest in.
I'm passing that knowledge andinformation and transparency
around how we're managing riskto the investors and really
that's what I do.
I'm maintaining thoserelationships.
(09:59):
I have a very well-organisedinvestor relations team that
make it a lot easier for me tobe able to be out and talk to
(10:20):
those investors and build andmaintain those relationships.
And I guess as a business wejust run two individual funds
One's the Ark Wholesale MortgageFund, which is what we call a
single contributory fund, andthen we manage a pooled fund, so
that allows our investors toinvest in a diversified
portfolio of what we call firstmortgage funds.
So simplest way I explain it iswe're like a private bank when
(10:45):
we allocate debt or allocatecapital to projects.
We are no different to a bankin terms of our risk and due
diligence processes, and once wesettle a loan, we average 65%
(11:11):
of the underlying value of thatparticular property.
So the downside is that that'show we ultimately protect
investors' capital.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
No, that makes sense.
So if something does go wrong,they can't pay the debt then you
can take over the asset andthere's a bit of fat, you could
say, between the value of theasset versus the loan.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Absolutely, and the way we explain our investment
philosophy.
We're allocating capital whereour investors will get a good
return, but our number oneinvestment rule is protection of
capital.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
Make sure that money's returned to the investor
.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Absolutely.
I mean I'd say all of theinvestors we invest on behalf of
.
They've either been verysuccessful in their own right,
they've made their money sure,they want an income off it but
the number one rule is toprotect their capital, and
that's really reflected in ourappetite for risk.
(12:06):
At the heart of that is theintegrity of our origination and
execution team, and also theleadership and the due diligence
processes, the legal compliancechecks that we have integrated
into the overall business.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
Yeah, what do you think the most important skills
are in your current role?
Speaker 1 (12:26):
I think the number one role is integrity.
That's hard to measure and youknow really that comes back to
leadership.
We've established a reallystrong culture within the four
walls at ARC.
You know one.
You know culture's a thing thatthere's a lot of talk around it
(12:48):
, but it's something we'vereally put a lot of work into.
We have a lot of pride in howwe treat our staff, how we
communicate internally, how weconsistently communicate with
our investors.
So our business is really onethat's been built on integrity,
(13:10):
trust, investor-first mentalityand that comes back to making
good decisions based on reallydetailed information every
minute every hour every day.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
And your role specifically.
It's obviously you're dealingwith investors, so
communication's important openhonesty, transparency.
You're in a leadership role too.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
Yes, can you share maybe?
Speaker 3 (13:34):
some insights.
Obviously, you mentioned youplayed footy for 15 years across
two different football clubs.
What did you learn playingfootball as a professional
football player that you've beenable to instill in business
today?
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Well, first of all, the number one thing I learned
was just ability to overcomeadversity.
Get knocked down, get up again.
That was one I learned.
The importance ofaccountability being accountable
for your own actions on thefield yeah, don't blame anyone
else.
Take on that responsibility.
(14:11):
And accountability In a teamenvironment.
The importance of empathy andcare to your teammates I've
certainly brought that into ourculture and our environment, the
supportive mindset, butprobably most importantly, but
probably most importantly, justthe ability to consistently work
(14:36):
hard and grind.
That's the biggest thing I'velearned from that professional
sporting environment.
From a leadership point of view, that's really been driven.
I've been very, very incrediblylucky to work under some great
leaders, including Eddie McGuire, who was president at 34 when I
(14:56):
first joined the club in 2000,.
Mick Malthouse, who was mycoach for eight years.
They were ruthless in theirpursuit for excellence.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
Can you share some insight into their leadership
style and what they demanded ofyou as a professional athlete?
Speaker 1 (15:15):
Yeah, well, we were fortunate.
When I first joined Collingwoodand I will speak a lot about
Collingwood because that waswhere I had the most success as
an individual player I certainlyhad a wonderful seven years at
St Kilda and we played finalstwo years, made a grand final in
97.
So we're setting somereasonably high benchmarks there
(15:36):
and some reasonably highstandards as a team.
But when I came to Collingwoodwe had three very unique
individuals.
One was our captain, nathanBuckley.
Mick was obviously the coach,second year coach and then Eddie
Maguire.
Firstly, with Ed, he had come intwo years previous and just his
(15:57):
infectious enthusiasm and justcommitment to getting better
every day and demanding highstandards from everyone within
the football club.
His sheer power of personalityjust drew that out of everyone.
Whether you're a player or acoach or a part of the broader
executive or staff.
(16:18):
He had a really real passionand strong belief obviously in
his own ability.
But where he wanted to take theCollingwood Football Club and
the club wasn't in a great shapein the early or the late 90s
and early 2000s financially itwas obviously a massively
supported club.
But he, over his 24 years hetook that to.
(16:42):
Or 22 or 23 years he took thatto an incredible, incredible
level.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
I think the largest club in the country now.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
It is, yes, yes, the highest supported, and
performance always helps that.
I think we've elevated to thenext level.
The last three years underCraig Mick was the same, but
different, just was ruthless,set incredible standards.
He understood people very, verywell.
He knew the players that he hadto prod and push and the ones
(17:14):
that he had enormous amount oftrust in.
He knew he could go and letthem have their space and
continue to be professionals.
But Mick's biggest strength, Ibelieve, was he never allowed
complacency to set in, even ifwe'd won 10 in a row.
His ability to observe justlittle elements of complacency,
(17:36):
whether that be in training orin the gym.
Or you know a couple of playersgetting late to training in the
mornings, he'd pick it up andhe never had any hesitation to
tell them, whether it's in frontof the group or behind closed
doors, and he knew which ones topush and prod.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
And did you ever get a talking to?
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Can you share an experience?
Speaker 1 (18:01):
No one missed the hairdryer of me, even the
captain.
And oh look, well I did.
One of the best ones was in mylast year.
I played my 250th game and I'dhad a bad hip towards the end of
(18:25):
the year and he arrested me inround.
I think it might have beenround 21 and 22.
And anyway, my great mate,simon Prestigiacomo, that I
played alongside he had beeninjured pretty much all year.
He brought him into the side inthe first final against
Adelaide.
Anyway, mick, to his credit, Iwas probably sulking a little
(18:47):
bit, very disappointed, thoughtI'd played my last game of AFL
footy so I was prettydisappointed that I didn't have
that opportunity.
And then he just absolutelygave it to me for sulking and
not being the team player.
And he was right and hedemanded that whether you're
(19:07):
playing or not playing, hedemanded incredibly high
standards of behaviour and inhindsight he was right.
I was selfish and fortunatelyPresti got injured the week
after and I come in for my lastgame against the Saints.
So I quite often think back thatyou know you can think
selfishly about a moment likethat as a player, but you can
(19:29):
also look at it from Mick'spoint of view and that was an
insight into him just drivingthese standards that it's team
first and that was the hardestthing about playing AFL footy.
It's an individual sport withina team environment and
sometimes your biggestcompetitors are your teammates.
(19:50):
But he had just that magicingredient to be able to demand
that from every player withinthe group and in the squad.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
Yeah, and at what point did you talk about
finishing up last game in 2008,was it?
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
Against St Kilda.
Was that a final?
Speaker 1 (20:09):
That was a final, ironically, against St Kilda we
kicked terribly.
I think we kicked nine goals,18, and the Saints kicked 15
goals seven.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
Not that you can remember anything.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
I've got a funny thing for numbers but not all
numbers and I knew mentally andphysically I still was okay.
I had a bit of a hip problem butI could have gone around one
more year.
But I think you reach thatmoment as a player and we had
the emergence of Benny Reid andNathan Brown, who would both
(20:47):
become premiership players twoyears later, in 2010.
And you know, when you getolder, you take on these
mentoring roles.
As hard as it is, you're sortof passing the baton to that
next generation of players,which is a sort of a funny
situation because yourcompetitor in you just wants to
(21:08):
squeeze out every little elementand wants to squeeze out
another game, another season.
But you sort of reach thatpoint of calmness, I think, and
I certainly did, after that game.
I'd certainly thought about itbefore that night, but I just
made that decision after thegame and I didn't want any
fanfare it's not how I played myfooty and I just quietly yeah
(21:29):
retired after the game and notlike these days they roll out
the players and put them up inpress conferences and splash
them over.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
Instagram.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
It's fantastic what they do these days.
It's incredible from asupporter's point of view.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
Yeah, it is good.
And so at what point did yourealise?
Well, what point did you startgetting ready for life after
footy?
Speaker 1 (21:51):
Probably when I got sacked by the Saints in end of
2000.
Yeah, yeah.
So I'd played 94, 90.
Well, I'd played 90 games goinginto the 2000 season.
Unfortunately I got a seriousAchilles partial rupture of my
left.
Achilles end up having anoperation and unfortunately I
(22:11):
spent about six, seven weeks inMercy Hospital in East Melbourne
with an Achilles infection.
So skin grafts and whatever elseTalk about resilience, it'd be
hard to come back from that yeah, yeah yeah, and you know, as
anyone who's played 15 years orjust have these, you know it's
certainly not a you know, asmooth sailing and linear path
(22:35):
of improvement.
You know you have a lot of bumpsalong the road and it's those
really tough moments, mentallyand physically, where you
reflect on it.
It builds this residue insideyou that makes you tougher and
you know, it gives you just anappetite to get better every day
in all parts of your life.
So, bang, malcolm Blyde hadcome on board as a coach and I
(22:58):
was sacked after playing prettymuch every game of 98, 99.
So that was a pretty soberingmoment.
You know, up until then I'ddone an undergrad science degree
, so my brother and I had a realcuriosity and appetite to learn
Not overly smart but a bit of agrinder and that was sort of at
(23:20):
a stage when I was 25, 26 andand didn't really know what I
wanted to do.
it's it's that is one of thechallenging things when you're
in the cut and thrust of ofbeing a professional athlete is
to is to really think about itin depth, of of what you want to
do post footy.
But that was the fork in theroad for me.
I was sacked and then suddenlyit was like, oh geez, footy
career's over at 25, 26.
(23:41):
And I had visions of playingthrough to my early 30s.
And so it was that moment Ienrolled in an MBA, a Master's
of Business in Accounting andFinance.
My first year at uni I had agreat one of the players who had
been recruited to the club, whohad become one of my great
mates at Collingwood, jimmyClement.
(24:02):
He'd started an MBA atUniversity of Melbourne and I
thought, well, I might do that.
I'll just do that.
So I did that for part-time forsix years and started a young
family, and it was the bestthing I did.
I talk about growth, as oneit's about education, one it's
about training and then one it'sabout experience.
(24:25):
So I had the education.
I didn't have any experiencewith work.
I worked part-time with aprivate equity firm, a couple of
days a week in my last year,and then I just got out on the
hustle and managed to land thisjob at Deloitte.
So I come out, jumped off thedeep end and I had wonderful
(24:46):
experience within the four wallsand great networks, and I've
met some wonderful people who'vecome from very successful
working backgrounds CEOs, cfos,successful business people but
really didn't know how I couldtap my skill set and my
relationships, so I thought thebest place to start would be at
(25:07):
a big four firm.
So, yeah, that was really thestart of my journey and I
honestly reflect and admit thatyou know, up until 40, my role
at the Saints was made redundant.
So I quite often joke, I'vebeen sacked by the Saints twice
and I'm sure there's been a lotof others who've been sacked
(25:28):
twice by the Saints over theyears as well.
But I got to 40 and it was likethat real sliding doors moment.
Admittedly, I'd probably lost alittle bit of ambition a young
family, all the tough thingsthat I'm sure a lot of people
out there go through in theirlife of managing, of being an
(25:50):
okay husband, a good dad,building a career and all the
pressures that come, andbuilding that financial pathway.
And I made a decision then Iloved real estate.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
Did you invest in real estate while you were
playing?
Is that always been a passionfor real estate?
Not heavily.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
We'd done a few minor small renos on houses, but that
was the extent of it, but justthe curiosity side of it just
allowed me to just continue toread.
So I actually went into a salesrole with one of the large
volume builders, the ABN Group.
A good mate of mine owns thebusiness here in Victoria and I
(26:34):
would recommend it to everyex-sportsman or AFL player that
comes out is to go into anenvironment, one where you get
educated well on good, strongsales process and two, find a
company that's going to helptrain you in that space.
(26:54):
I was 40, undergrad, sciencedegree, mba in accounting and
finance, and I was largely in asales role.
But it was the best three yearsI ever had in terms of just
being honest with myself, reallyparing back what I wanted to do
and the industry I wanted to bein.
And then that naturally evolvedinto coming into funds
(27:19):
management at what would havebeen, you know, 42.
And then that opened up a hugelandscape and it was that moment
where I thought, gee, I lookedat it from understanding where
the investment capital flowsfrom whether that's the industry
super funds through to personalself-managed super funds.
(27:43):
who's managing that money onbehalf of individuals?
What products are theyinvesting in outside the
equities and the stock markets?
So what, ultimately, was thefoundation of property, my
opportunity to come into funds,managed with an unlisted
(28:04):
property fund manager, thenopened up this whole environment
to the investment markets, andthat just tapped my curiosity
and learning.
Whole environment to theinvestment markets, and that
just tapped my curiosity andlearning.
And, as I touched on before theinteresting thing I met my
current fellow business partner,perry McDonald, at St Kilda
(28:25):
back in 2012 and then theopportunity to buy into the
business in 2022 arises off theback of just an ongoing
friendship and, I guess, anunderstanding of what he was
wanting to do with the business.
So, it's amazing how thosesliding doors work.
Speaker 3 (28:45):
Yeah, just important to, as you said, be inquisitive
and be willing to learn and meetpeople, and opportunities will
become available as a result ofthat.
So can you share your biggestchallenge, maybe from finishing
professional football totransitioning into the finance
(29:05):
world?
Speaker 1 (29:06):
Yeah, I think the biggest challenge was
uncertainty for me.
I was fortunate I was paidreasonably well in my first role
at Deloitte and I'm quitehonest and transparent in
sharing with this but thebiggest challenge was just the
uncertainty of every day,feeling like a bit of an
(29:29):
imposter because, you know,there was a high degree of
accountability in thoseworkplaces and I was stuck
between that role where I didn'thave the you know, the
intellect, the IQ, the attentionto detail of some of these
(29:50):
young grads that were incredibleon Excel spreadsheets and
writing reports and businesscases, but I didn't have the
language.
I had very good relationshipsacross different people I'd met
along the journey, but I didn'thave the language to then be
able to sell a product or tosell a service.
(30:11):
So I was sort of caught betweenthis difficult situation.
I knew that was going to take alot of time.
Fortunately I was able, througha very good mate of mine who
was in an executive role at agovernment organisation or a new
(30:33):
authority, were able to land asignificant job for the firm and
that sort of just bought metime.
But the biggest learning I hadwas I had come from being a
professional athlete, whereyou're in control of your
destiny.
You have a bad game.
You just get to work on aMonday.
You get a good night's sleep.
Have a bad game.
You just get to work on aMonday.
(30:54):
You get a good night's sleep,you eat well.
You come with a fire in thebelly and you just learn to.
You get back on track.
You get your mental side of itswitched on.
You train your bum off, you hitthe gym hard, you develop
confidence in your hands andyour kicking and your kickstart
your week again to get thatconfidence back on the field.
(31:16):
And so you have this.
You know, I said once I wasthrough that first three to four
years of AFL footy at theSaints I'd become a pro and I
was in charge mode destiny.
So I never thought I'd made itas an AFL footballer because I
had these peaks and thenfollowed by disappointments,
(31:40):
whether it's losing grand finalsor getting injuries or whatever
it may be.
And so you're so used to havingthis routine and being in
control of your own destiny, andthat's one thing I didn't have.
And then, with that,uncertainty came.
You know we all our brains arewired in a way that we want to
(32:02):
see.
We just want to continue toprogress forward and when
there's barriers in place andyou don't have the ability to
fully control your destiny, thatcan be really tough mentally.
And that was probably thebiggest challenge I had trying
to be a good husband, trying tobe in the moment with kids while
(32:24):
you're juggling a career,trying to be a good dad, good
role model.
I was juggling part-timecommentary the first three years
out while managing thecorporate role and probably in
reflection I'd probably burntmyself out at some stage.
But my attitude was just keeppushing, keep grinding and I
(32:45):
eventually got through that andthat held me in good stead.
Speaker 3 (32:49):
So what advice would you give to someone that maybe
is about 250 games across thePies and the Saints and
transitioning to their nextprofessional career?
Is it just be resilient, justcontinue.
It's not going to be easy.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
Yep, resilience, use the same attributes you did
playing footy.
I would say arguably the mostimportant one is to find a
mentor, ideally a boss in theworkplace you're going into.
That's going to really back you, really give you the pathway,
(33:24):
the development pathway thatallows you to become experienced
, allows you to build confidencein a particular area of
occupation, and I think that'sarguably the most important
thing.
It's your own personalattributes and what you build
(33:46):
over a long period of time, butit's also identifying someone
who can help you and support youas a mentor with your journey
through thick and thin, throughgood times, through bad times,
through changes in the economywhich may impact a business or
not.
That's probably my biggestlearning and I guess, on
(34:08):
reflection, not kicking yourselftoo much for not having the
perfect day at work or notprogressing that week or that
month or that year, becauseultimately, life's got a funny
way of working out.
If you just continue to grindand continue to back up every
day, someone you meet five yearsago you may bump into and they
(34:35):
may help you in all differenttypes of ways.
You know my current businesspartner, which I touched on a
couple of times.
It's weird.
You know, 10 years later, wecaught up personally and the
planets aligned.
He needed someone like me andthe planets aligned, he needed
someone like me.
(34:56):
I couldn't have had the successand relative success in our
current business without him andvice versa.
So it's meeting good peoplealong the way being curious,
just I call it.
Adding to my toolbox or addingto my tool kit along the way
being curious, just I call it.
Adding to my toolbox or addingto my cool toolkit along the way
(35:16):
is arguably what allows you toget to where you get.
Speaker 3 (35:19):
It's interesting.
You say that because we hadAndy Gowers on the podcast and
he spoke about you know he usedto be a football player for
Hawthorne and Brisbane and hetalks about you know, telling
he's president now of the cluband he regularly tells the
players.
You know, when you havefunctions, be curious, talk to
members, talk to people at theircorporate functions, find out
(35:40):
what they do, learn about whatthey do.
It opens up your mind and givesyou an opportunity that will be
, you know, a potentialopportunity of the future.
Speaker 1 (35:48):
Absolutely, and that's what football clubs.
I was fortunate that I had twogreat football clubs with really
strong networks from a businessside point of view, and I don't
think I ever went into meetingpeople with a curiosity that
they could help me.
We come from a small.
My brother and I come from asmall country town on the air
(36:11):
peninsula of South Australiacalled Kimber, and us meeting
people and getting to knowpeople with the heart of that
really comes down to getting toknow them as individuals.
You know, first and foremost,and that's held us in really
good stead.
Speaker 3 (36:27):
Yeah, and you're a twin from my understanding.
Speaker 1 (36:30):
I am I'm an identical twin.
Yeah, yeah, you're a twin.
From my understanding, I am.
I'm an identical twin.
Yeah, yeah.
So Daryl's been a verysuccessful pharmacist in
Adelaide and has owned differentpharmacies through New South
Wales and Victoria and NorthernTerritory over his journey.
So, yeah, I mean he's arguablybeen the most influential person
in my life because we've rodethe ups and downs, we've been
(36:55):
through grand final losses, he'sobviously won a premiership and
we've been, in a way, eachother's coaches.
We've leaned on each other inthe tough times and, you know,
celebrated our successes in thegood times, and that continues
on to this day, which isfantastic.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
And that would be a big help for you, having you
know your brother.
How many games did your brotherplay?
Similar amounts.
Speaker 1 (37:24):
Yeah, he played nine more games than me.
He played 261.
I played 252 and I played 15years.
I lost an entire season,obviously, at the Saints, but
yeah yeah, so that was a bit offun.
Speaker 3 (37:37):
Yeah, and now you also.
You've got a family.
I know you've got a daughterwho's about 19.
You've got two daughters, isthat right?
Speaker 1 (37:44):
I've got a son and a daughter.
So my daughter's 21,.
Charlie, she's going well.
She's doing marketing comms outat Caulfield, monash, and she's
going well.
And then my son's 19.
He was doing science at Monashand he's actually embarked three
(38:06):
or four months ago on a prokick journey, which is the
punting program.
Speaker 3 (38:12):
Oh, okay.
Speaker 1 (38:15):
That's Nathan Chapman , former Brisbane Lions and
Hawthorne player, a Green BayPackers punter.
He developed the program goingback about 15 years ago now and
it's really about placing younglads into colleges on full-ride
scholarships.
So he's on his own journey andit's been great for him and,
(38:36):
yeah, everyone's happy and it'sall that matters.
Speaker 3 (38:38):
Oh, that's good.
Well, shane, it's been apleasure.
Thank you for coming on theFinance Friends podcast.
You provide really good insightinto your career as a
footballer and also, moreimportantly, your career as a
finance professional.
So, thank you.
We wish you all the best as adirector, executive director of
our capital and the businesshopefully continues to grow.
Speaker 1 (38:57):
Thanks, fabian, really appreciate the
opportunity and look forward tolistening to your other podcasts
.
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 3 (39:08):
Thanks for listening this week.
Stay tuned for our next episodeand keep up to date with us by
following the Finance Friendspodcast on Instagram and TikTok
Plus.
Connect with us and our guestsover on our LinkedIn page, all
linked in the show notes.
Speaker 2 (39:29):
Disclaimer this podcast exists for informational
and entertainment purposes only.
The personal opinions of thespeaker and guests do not
represent the view of any otherparty.
If this recording containsreference to financial products,
that reference does notconstitute advice nor
recommendations and may not berelied upon.
Welcome.
Hunched away by Wendell.
He is Still in the space Comingthrough Wake up.
He's never kicked a goal fromConlon, he has now.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
Welcome back to Finance Friends, your personal
seat at the table with leadersshaping the financial world.
In this exclusive season, wemeet with high profile,
incredibly successful athleteswho achieve the greatest heights
on the sports field and are nowdominating the finance world.
(00:48):
On today's episode of FinanceTrends, we have the incredibly
insightful Shane Wakeland, whoplayed 15 years of football
across St Kilda and Collingwood251 games, or maybe 252 games
across the clubs.
Currently works as an executivedirector and head of
(01:09):
distribution at a private realestate credit fund called ARK
Capital.
He's an owner in the businessand has helped grow the business
by 400% in the last or over400% in the last three years, or
over 400% in the last threeyears.
He shares experience aboutplaying at Collingwood Football
(01:29):
Club and the demands andexpectations from Eddie McGuire
as the president, as well asMick Malthouse.
He shares his experiencetransitioning finance and it's
not always easy and howresilience is needed to be
successful to transition.
Listen to this episode.
Good morning, shane.
Welcome to the Finance Friendspodcast.
How are you today?
Speaker 1 (01:48):
Great, fabian, thank you for firstly inviting me, and
it's wonderful to be here.
We're only just talking brieflybefore, but I think I've done
one podcast previously, abouttwo years ago, and it's nice to
be here.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Well, it's good to have you on.
We've got a lot to offer.
I've seen we were just talkingabout Wimbledon and the tennis
just before we got on air and weactually met at the Australian
Open circa maybe five years ago,was it?
Speaker 1 (02:16):
Yes, it would have been, and it's actually become
one of those great days in thesporting calendar, hasn't it?
For?
Certainly and obviously, withthe overlay of it being a
financial services day, everyone from the industry, whether
it's fund managers, financialadvisors and everything in
between there but it's a greatFriday, that one.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
It is.
It's not much.
Tennis is watched.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
No.
Speaker 3 (02:41):
But lots of beverages are consumed and everyone's
having fun and socialising andnetworking in the beer garden,
which is great.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Yes, absolutely, and I have promised the team we'll
get a few of them along nextyear because it is it's one of
those great days and a greatgreat way to kick off the year
as well.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Yeah, so it'd be good to when we did meet five years
ago, a few years after finishingfootball.
So maybe just start us off bywhat are you doing now?
Who do you work for, To giveour listeners a bit of insight
into who you are as a financeprofessional.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Yeah, thanks, fabian.
Well, my journey's been, Iguess, multifaceted since I
retired from my first careerbeing AFL footy, and so I
retired at the end of 2008 and Ihad the education, didn't have
any experience, didn't reallyhave any on-job training, so I
was jumping in the deep end.
My first role was actually infinance, at Deloitte, in
(03:37):
corporate finance, and, geez, Iwas green.
I was surrounded by a heap ofthese young, up-and-coming stars
.
I was green, I was surroundedby a heap of these young,
up-and-coming stars, you knowPhD students in finance and
super, super smart acrossmultiple fields.
But I say I lasted four years.
I certainly didn't thrive inthat environment, but I
(03:57):
identified pretty early that youknow that corporate world
wasn't so much for me.
I'd come from an incrediblyrewarding 15 years playing AFL
football.
Great work-life balance youcouldn't call it work and you're
in control of your own destinyand you jump off the deep end
(04:20):
into a GFC, mind you, 2009.
But it really laid a wonderfulfoundation for me.
Firstly, in finance, Itemporarily went back into AFL
footy for a couple of years andthen pretty much the last 10 to
12 years since 2015, I've beenin property and then the last
(04:43):
six to seven years in fundsmanagement.
So I guess, when I'm very mucha reflective type and if I
reflect on my decision-makingpost-football, you know there's
certainly some decisions I wouldhave made differently, but I've
come to the conclusion that itjust is what it is.
You know my time going backinto AFL football, which was
(05:06):
ironically with St KildaFootball Club heading up
commercial operations, Ireconnected with a lot of
long-time St Kilda supporters,then some very successful people
in their own right, and they'vebecome an important part of my
life just for bouncing ideas onand ultimately and I'll touch on
(05:30):
that in a minute my currentbusiness partner, perry McDonald
, our MD of our capital, whichI'll touch on a little bit more
in a moment We've become greatmates at St Kilda.
So it's really interestingthose sliding doors moments.
So it's really interestingthose sliding doors moments, the
circle of life where youconnect with people you have
really strongly aligned valueswith that share similar interest
(05:55):
to you and at a point in timedown the pathway of life you
reconnect.
So I'm now a shareholder,executive director of
distribution and investorrelations at ARC Capital, so
we're a private real estate debtfund manager.
So we are largely allocatingcapital, raising capital and
(06:18):
allocating capital to thedevelopment phase of property
developments and, put simply, wefund developers in residential
land subdivisions, industrialland subdivisions and industrial
warehouse self-storage.
That's sort of our key area ofexpertise.
We currently manage about $450million in contracted funds
(06:40):
under management across 36projects around the country.
And, as I touched on before, Ijoined the business a little
over three years ago when wewere at sort of circa $60
million and I was invited intothe business through Perry he
had a couple of businesspartners at the time and the
(07:03):
planets aligned.
He had a couple of businesspartners at the time and the
planets aligned and I'd finishedfive, six years at a previous
fund manager where I'destablished the distribution
capital raising strategy thereLearned a lot.
I was pretty green when I comeinto the industry going back
eight years ago industry goingback eight years ago but I
(07:31):
learnt the whole matrix that is,financial services of research
and platform and bank-ownedprivate wealth groups, own
licensed for sales, investmentconsultants all the fun stuff
that you've known for many, manyyears.
And I guess it was just thatcuriosity and appetite to learn
which then ultimately landed meas a shareholder of ARC Capital,
and I think that that's reallybeen my attitude both during my
(07:55):
footy career and then post-footyis just continue to grind, have
a great curiosity forinformation, for learning, align
yourself with people a lotsmarter than yourself and
identify people who've gotreally strongly aligned values
and behaviours, and so that'ssort of in a nutshell, my last
(08:17):
15, 16 years.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
Yeah, well, it's really insightful.
Thank you for sharing and maybego into a bit more detail.
What does your role involve inexecutive director investor
relations distribution?
Can you share with our audiencethat might not understand the
terminology?
Speaker 1 (08:32):
What do you actually do?
Yeah, so, put very, very simply, we are like a private bank.
So, firstly, we identifyinvestors who are looking for
consistency of income as part oftheir overall investment
portfolio.
So, on any given day, I'll dealwith private wealth advisors,
(08:53):
ultra high net worth individualswho may be running a
self-managed super fund, familyofficers who have been investing
in this asset class for a longtime, and I just really talk to
them and understand what it isthey're wanting to achieve in
terms of this part of theirinvestment portfolio.
(09:15):
And then a critical part ofthat is talking about how we
allocate and the types ofprojects we allocate to how we
mitigate and manage risk in theprojects that we invest in.
So I sit on the investmentcommittee along with two of my
fellow shareholders andexecutive directors and our head
(09:38):
of origination execution team,so I'm really passing knowledge
on the individual projects thatwe invest in.
I'm passing that knowledge andinformation and transparency
around how we're managing riskto the investors and really
that's what I do.
I'm maintaining thoserelationships.
(09:59):
I have a very well-organisedinvestor relations team that
make it a lot easier for me tobe able to be out and talk to
(10:20):
those investors and build andmaintain those relationships.
And I guess as a business wejust run two individual funds
One's the Ark Wholesale MortgageFund, which is what we call a
single contributory fund, andthen we manage a pooled fund, so
that allows our investors toinvest in a diversified
portfolio of what we call firstmortgage funds.
So simplest way I explain it iswe're like a private bank when
(10:45):
we allocate debt or allocatecapital to projects.
We are no different to a bankin terms of our risk and due
diligence processes, and once wesettle a loan, we average 65%
(11:11):
of the underlying value of thatparticular property.
So the downside is that that'show we ultimately protect
investors' capital.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
No, that makes sense.
So if something does go wrong,they can't pay the debt then you
can take over the asset andthere's a bit of fat, you could
say, between the value of theasset versus the loan.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Absolutely, and the way we explain our investment
philosophy.
We're allocating capital whereour investors will get a good
return, but our number oneinvestment rule is protection of
capital.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
Make sure that money's returned to the investor
.
Speaker 1 (11:44):
Absolutely.
I mean I'd say all of theinvestors we invest on behalf of
.
They've either been verysuccessful in their own right,
they've made their money sure,they want an income off it but
the number one rule is toprotect their capital, and
that's really reflected in ourappetite for risk.
(12:06):
At the heart of that is theintegrity of our origination and
execution team, and also theleadership and the due diligence
processes, the legal compliancechecks that we have integrated
into the overall business.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
Yeah, what do you think the most important skills
are in your current role?
Speaker 1 (12:26):
I think the number one role is integrity.
That's hard to measure and youknow really that comes back to
leadership.
We've established a reallystrong culture within the four
walls at ARC.
You know one.
You know culture's a thing thatthere's a lot of talk around it
(12:48):
, but it's something we'vereally put a lot of work into.
We have a lot of pride in howwe treat our staff, how we
communicate internally, how weconsistently communicate with
our investors.
So our business is really onethat's been built on integrity,
(13:10):
trust, investor-first mentalityand that comes back to making
good decisions based on reallydetailed information every
minute every hour every day.
Speaker 3 (13:24):
And your role specifically.
It's obviously you're dealingwith investors, so
communication's important openhonesty, transparency.
You're in a leadership role too.
Speaker 2 (13:33):
Yes, can you share maybe?
Speaker 3 (13:34):
some insights.
Obviously, you mentioned youplayed footy for 15 years across
two different football clubs.
What did you learn playingfootball as a professional
football player that you've beenable to instill in business
today?
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Well, first of all, the number one thing I learned
was just ability to overcomeadversity.
Get knocked down, get up again.
That was one I learned.
The importance ofaccountability being accountable
for your own actions on thefield yeah, don't blame anyone
else.
Take on that responsibility.
(14:11):
And accountability In a teamenvironment.
The importance of empathy andcare to your teammates I've
certainly brought that into ourculture and our environment, the
supportive mindset, butprobably most importantly, but
probably most importantly, justthe ability to consistently work
(14:36):
hard and grind.
That's the biggest thing I'velearned from that professional
sporting environment.
From a leadership point of view, that's really been driven.
I've been very, very incrediblylucky to work under some great
leaders, including Eddie McGuire, who was president at 34 when I
(14:56):
first joined the club in 2000,.
Mick Malthouse, who was mycoach for eight years.
They were ruthless in theirpursuit for excellence.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
Can you share some insight into their leadership
style and what they demanded ofyou as a professional athlete?
Speaker 1 (15:15):
Yeah, well, we were fortunate.
When I first joined Collingwoodand I will speak a lot about
Collingwood because that waswhere I had the most success as
an individual player I certainlyhad a wonderful seven years at
St Kilda and we played finalstwo years, made a grand final in
97.
So we're setting somereasonably high benchmarks there
(15:36):
and some reasonably highstandards as a team.
But when I came to Collingwoodwe had three very unique
individuals.
One was our captain, nathanBuckley.
Mick was obviously the coach,second year coach and then Eddie
Maguire.
Firstly, with Ed, he had come intwo years previous and just his
(15:57):
infectious enthusiasm and justcommitment to getting better
every day and demanding highstandards from everyone within
the football club.
His sheer power of personalityjust drew that out of everyone.
Whether you're a player or acoach or a part of the broader
executive or staff.
(16:18):
He had a really real passionand strong belief obviously in
his own ability.
But where he wanted to take theCollingwood Football Club and
the club wasn't in a great shapein the early or the late 90s
and early 2000s financially itwas obviously a massively
supported club.
But he, over his 24 years hetook that to.
(16:42):
Or 22 or 23 years he took thatto an incredible, incredible
level.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
I think the largest club in the country now.
Speaker 1 (16:50):
It is, yes, yes, the highest supported, and
performance always helps that.
I think we've elevated to thenext level.
The last three years underCraig Mick was the same, but
different, just was ruthless,set incredible standards.
He understood people very, verywell.
He knew the players that he hadto prod and push and the ones
(17:14):
that he had enormous amount oftrust in.
He knew he could go and letthem have their space and
continue to be professionals.
But Mick's biggest strength, Ibelieve, was he never allowed
complacency to set in, even ifwe'd won 10 in a row.
His ability to observe justlittle elements of complacency,
(17:36):
whether that be in training orin the gym.
Or you know a couple of playersgetting late to training in the
mornings, he'd pick it up andhe never had any hesitation to
tell them, whether it's in frontof the group or behind closed
doors, and he knew which ones topush and prod.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
And did you ever get a talking to?
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Can you share an experience?
Speaker 1 (18:01):
No one missed the hairdryer of me, even the
captain.
And oh look, well I did.
One of the best ones was in mylast year.
I played my 250th game and I'dhad a bad hip towards the end of
(18:25):
the year and he arrested me inround.
I think it might have beenround 21 and 22.
And anyway, my great mate,simon Prestigiacomo, that I
played alongside he had beeninjured pretty much all year.
He brought him into the side inthe first final against
Adelaide.
Anyway, mick, to his credit, Iwas probably sulking a little
(18:47):
bit, very disappointed, thoughtI'd played my last game of AFL
footy so I was prettydisappointed that I didn't have
that opportunity.
And then he just absolutelygave it to me for sulking and
not being the team player.
And he was right and hedemanded that whether you're
(19:07):
playing or not playing, hedemanded incredibly high
standards of behaviour and inhindsight he was right.
I was selfish and fortunatelyPresti got injured the week
after and I come in for my lastgame against the Saints.
So I quite often think back thatyou know you can think
selfishly about a moment likethat as a player, but you can
(19:29):
also look at it from Mick'spoint of view and that was an
insight into him just drivingthese standards that it's team
first and that was the hardestthing about playing AFL footy.
It's an individual sport withina team environment and
sometimes your biggestcompetitors are your teammates.
(19:50):
But he had just that magicingredient to be able to demand
that from every player withinthe group and in the squad.
Speaker 3 (19:59):
Yeah, and at what point did you talk about
finishing up last game in 2008,was it?
Speaker 1 (20:07):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (20:07):
Against St Kilda.
Was that a final?
Speaker 1 (20:09):
That was a final, ironically, against St Kilda we
kicked terribly.
I think we kicked nine goals,18, and the Saints kicked 15
goals seven.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
Not that you can remember anything.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
I've got a funny thing for numbers but not all
numbers and I knew mentally andphysically I still was okay.
I had a bit of a hip problem butI could have gone around one
more year.
But I think you reach thatmoment as a player and we had
the emergence of Benny Reid andNathan Brown, who would both
(20:47):
become premiership players twoyears later, in 2010.
And you know, when you getolder, you take on these
mentoring roles.
As hard as it is, you're sortof passing the baton to that
next generation of players,which is a sort of a funny
situation because yourcompetitor in you just wants to
(21:08):
squeeze out every little elementand wants to squeeze out
another game, another season.
But you sort of reach thatpoint of calmness, I think, and
I certainly did, after that game.
I'd certainly thought about itbefore that night, but I just
made that decision after thegame and I didn't want any
fanfare it's not how I played myfooty and I just quietly yeah
(21:29):
retired after the game and notlike these days they roll out
the players and put them up inpress conferences and splash
them over.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
Instagram.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
It's fantastic what they do these days.
It's incredible from asupporter's point of view.
Speaker 3 (21:43):
Yeah, it is good.
And so at what point did yourealise?
Well, what point did you startgetting ready for life after
footy?
Speaker 1 (21:51):
Probably when I got sacked by the Saints in end of
2000.
Yeah, yeah.
So I'd played 94, 90.
Well, I'd played 90 games goinginto the 2000 season.
Unfortunately I got a seriousAchilles partial rupture of my
left.
Achilles end up having anoperation and unfortunately I
(22:11):
spent about six, seven weeks inMercy Hospital in East Melbourne
with an Achilles infection.
So skin grafts and whatever elseTalk about resilience, it'd be
hard to come back from that yeah, yeah yeah, and you know, as
anyone who's played 15 years orjust have these, you know it's
certainly not a you know, asmooth sailing and linear path
(22:35):
of improvement.
You know you have a lot of bumpsalong the road and it's those
really tough moments, mentallyand physically, where you
reflect on it.
It builds this residue insideyou that makes you tougher and
you know, it gives you just anappetite to get better every day
in all parts of your life.
So, bang, malcolm Blyde hadcome on board as a coach and I
(22:58):
was sacked after playing prettymuch every game of 98, 99.
So that was a pretty soberingmoment.
You know, up until then I'ddone an undergrad science degree
, so my brother and I had a realcuriosity and appetite to learn
Not overly smart but a bit of agrinder and that was sort of at
(23:20):
a stage when I was 25, 26 andand didn't really know what I
wanted to do.
it's it's that is one of thechallenging things when you're
in the cut and thrust of ofbeing a professional athlete is
to is to really think about itin depth, of of what you want to
do post footy.
But that was the fork in theroad for me.
I was sacked and then suddenlyit was like, oh geez, footy
career's over at 25, 26.
(23:41):
And I had visions of playingthrough to my early 30s.
And so it was that moment Ienrolled in an MBA, a Master's
of Business in Accounting andFinance.
My first year at uni I had agreat one of the players who had
been recruited to the club, whohad become one of my great
mates at Collingwood, jimmyClement.
(24:02):
He'd started an MBA atUniversity of Melbourne and I
thought, well, I might do that.
I'll just do that.
So I did that for part-time forsix years and started a young
family, and it was the bestthing I did.
I talk about growth, as oneit's about education, one it's
about training and then one it'sabout experience.
(24:25):
So I had the education.
I didn't have any experiencewith work.
I worked part-time with aprivate equity firm, a couple of
days a week in my last year,and then I just got out on the
hustle and managed to land thisjob at Deloitte.
So I come out, jumped off thedeep end and I had wonderful
(24:46):
experience within the four wallsand great networks, and I've
met some wonderful people who'vecome from very successful
working backgrounds CEOs, cfos,successful business people but
really didn't know how I couldtap my skill set and my
relationships, so I thought thebest place to start would be at
(25:07):
a big four firm.
So, yeah, that was really thestart of my journey and I
honestly reflect and admit thatyou know, up until 40, my role
at the Saints was made redundant.
So I quite often joke, I'vebeen sacked by the Saints twice
and I'm sure there's been a lotof others who've been sacked
(25:28):
twice by the Saints over theyears as well.
But I got to 40 and it was likethat real sliding doors moment.
Admittedly, I'd probably lost alittle bit of ambition a young
family, all the tough thingsthat I'm sure a lot of people
out there go through in theirlife of managing, of being an
(25:50):
okay husband, a good dad,building a career and all the
pressures that come, andbuilding that financial pathway.
And I made a decision then Iloved real estate.
Speaker 3 (26:05):
Did you invest in real estate while you were
playing?
Is that always been a passionfor real estate?
Not heavily.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
We'd done a few minor small renos on houses, but that
was the extent of it, but justthe curiosity side of it just
allowed me to just continue toread.
So I actually went into a salesrole with one of the large
volume builders, the ABN Group.
A good mate of mine owns thebusiness here in Victoria and I
(26:34):
would recommend it to everyex-sportsman or AFL player that
comes out is to go into anenvironment, one where you get
educated well on good, strongsales process and two, find a
company that's going to helptrain you in that space.
(26:54):
I was 40, undergrad, sciencedegree, mba in accounting and
finance, and I was largely in asales role.
But it was the best three yearsI ever had in terms of just
being honest with myself, reallyparing back what I wanted to do
and the industry I wanted to bein.
And then that naturally evolvedinto coming into funds
(27:19):
management at what would havebeen, you know, 42.
And then that opened up a hugelandscape and it was that moment
where I thought, gee, I lookedat it from understanding where
the investment capital flowsfrom whether that's the industry
super funds through to personalself-managed super funds.
(27:43):
who's managing that money onbehalf of individuals?
What products are theyinvesting in outside the
equities and the stock markets?
So what, ultimately, was thefoundation of property, my
opportunity to come into funds,managed with an unlisted
(28:04):
property fund manager, thenopened up this whole environment
to the investment markets, andthat just tapped my curiosity
and learning.
Whole environment to theinvestment markets, and that
just tapped my curiosity andlearning.
And, as I touched on before theinteresting thing I met my
current fellow business partner,perry McDonald, at St Kilda
(28:25):
back in 2012 and then theopportunity to buy into the
business in 2022 arises off theback of just an ongoing
friendship and, I guess, anunderstanding of what he was
wanting to do with the business.
So, it's amazing how thosesliding doors work.
Speaker 3 (28:45):
Yeah, just important to, as you said, be inquisitive
and be willing to learn and meetpeople, and opportunities will
become available as a result ofthat.
So can you share your biggestchallenge, maybe from finishing
professional football totransitioning into the finance
(29:05):
world?
Speaker 1 (29:06):
Yeah, I think the biggest challenge was
uncertainty for me.
I was fortunate I was paidreasonably well in my first role
at Deloitte and I'm quitehonest and transparent in
sharing with this but thebiggest challenge was just the
uncertainty of every day,feeling like a bit of an
(29:29):
imposter because, you know,there was a high degree of
accountability in thoseworkplaces and I was stuck
between that role where I didn'thave the you know, the
intellect, the IQ, the attentionto detail of some of these
(29:50):
young grads that were incredibleon Excel spreadsheets and
writing reports and businesscases, but I didn't have the
language.
I had very good relationshipsacross different people I'd met
along the journey, but I didn'thave the language to then be
able to sell a product or tosell a service.
(30:11):
So I was sort of caught betweenthis difficult situation.
I knew that was going to take alot of time.
Fortunately I was able, througha very good mate of mine who
was in an executive role at agovernment organisation or a new
(30:33):
authority, were able to land asignificant job for the firm and
that sort of just bought metime.
But the biggest learning I hadwas I had come from being a
professional athlete, whereyou're in control of your
destiny.
You have a bad game.
You just get to work on aMonday.
You get a good night's sleep.
Have a bad game.
You just get to work on aMonday.
(30:54):
You get a good night's sleep,you eat well.
You come with a fire in thebelly and you just learn to.
You get back on track.
You get your mental side of itswitched on.
You train your bum off, you hitthe gym hard, you develop
confidence in your hands andyour kicking and your kickstart
your week again to get thatconfidence back on the field.
(31:16):
And so you have this.
You know, I said once I wasthrough that first three to four
years of AFL footy at theSaints I'd become a pro and I
was in charge mode destiny.
So I never thought I'd made itas an AFL footballer because I
had these peaks and thenfollowed by disappointments,
(31:40):
whether it's losing grand finalsor getting injuries or whatever
it may be.
And so you're so used to havingthis routine and being in
control of your own destiny, andthat's one thing I didn't have.
And then, with that,uncertainty came.
You know we all our brains arewired in a way that we want to
(32:02):
see.
We just want to continue toprogress forward and when
there's barriers in place andyou don't have the ability to
fully control your destiny, thatcan be really tough mentally.
And that was probably thebiggest challenge I had trying
to be a good husband, trying tobe in the moment with kids while
(32:24):
you're juggling a career,trying to be a good dad, good
role model.
I was juggling part-timecommentary the first three years
out while managing thecorporate role and probably in
reflection I'd probably burntmyself out at some stage.
But my attitude was just keeppushing, keep grinding and I
(32:45):
eventually got through that andthat held me in good stead.
Speaker 3 (32:49):
So what advice would you give to someone that maybe
is about 250 games across thePies and the Saints and
transitioning to their nextprofessional career?
Is it just be resilient, justcontinue.
It's not going to be easy.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
Yep, resilience, use the same attributes you did
playing footy.
I would say arguably the mostimportant one is to find a
mentor, ideally a boss in theworkplace you're going into.
That's going to really back you, really give you the pathway,
(33:24):
the development pathway thatallows you to become experienced
, allows you to build confidencein a particular area of
occupation, and I think that'sarguably the most important
thing.
It's your own personalattributes and what you build
(33:46):
over a long period of time, butit's also identifying someone
who can help you and support youas a mentor with your journey
through thick and thin, throughgood times, through bad times,
through changes in the economywhich may impact a business or
not.
That's probably my biggestlearning and I guess, on
(34:08):
reflection, not kicking yourselftoo much for not having the
perfect day at work or notprogressing that week or that
month or that year, becauseultimately, life's got a funny
way of working out.
If you just continue to grindand continue to back up every
day, someone you meet five yearsago you may bump into and they
(34:35):
may help you in all differenttypes of ways.
You know my current businesspartner, which I touched on a
couple of times.
It's weird.
You know, 10 years later, wecaught up personally and the
planets aligned.
He needed someone like me andthe planets aligned, he needed
someone like me.
(34:56):
I couldn't have had the successand relative success in our
current business without him andvice versa.
So it's meeting good peoplealong the way being curious,
just I call it.
Adding to my toolbox or addingto my tool kit along the way
being curious, just I call it.
Adding to my toolbox or addingto my cool toolkit along the way
(35:16):
is arguably what allows you toget to where you get.
Speaker 3 (35:19):
It's interesting.
You say that because we hadAndy Gowers on the podcast and
he spoke about you know he usedto be a football player for
Hawthorne and Brisbane and hetalks about you know, telling
he's president now of the cluband he regularly tells the
players.
You know, when you havefunctions, be curious, talk to
members, talk to people at theircorporate functions, find out
(35:40):
what they do, learn about whatthey do.
It opens up your mind and givesyou an opportunity that will be
, you know, a potentialopportunity of the future.
Speaker 1 (35:48):
Absolutely, and that's what football clubs.
I was fortunate that I had twogreat football clubs with really
strong networks from a businessside point of view, and I don't
think I ever went into meetingpeople with a curiosity that
they could help me.
We come from a small.
My brother and I come from asmall country town on the air
(36:11):
peninsula of South Australiacalled Kimber, and us meeting
people and getting to knowpeople with the heart of that
really comes down to getting toknow them as individuals.
You know, first and foremost,and that's held us in really
good stead.
Speaker 3 (36:27):
Yeah, and you're a twin from my understanding.
Speaker 1 (36:30):
I am I'm an identical twin.
Yeah, yeah, you're a twin.
From my understanding, I am.
I'm an identical twin.
Yeah, yeah.
So Daryl's been a verysuccessful pharmacist in
Adelaide and has owned differentpharmacies through New South
Wales and Victoria and NorthernTerritory over his journey.
So, yeah, I mean he's arguablybeen the most influential person
in my life because we've rodethe ups and downs, we've been
(36:55):
through grand final losses, he'sobviously won a premiership and
we've been, in a way, eachother's coaches.
We've leaned on each other inthe tough times and, you know,
celebrated our successes in thegood times, and that continues
on to this day, which isfantastic.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
And that would be a big help for you, having you
know your brother.
How many games did your brotherplay?
Similar amounts.
Speaker 1 (37:24):
Yeah, he played nine more games than me.
He played 261.
I played 252 and I played 15years.
I lost an entire season,obviously, at the Saints, but
yeah yeah, so that was a bit offun.
Speaker 3 (37:37):
Yeah, and now you also.
You've got a family.
I know you've got a daughterwho's about 19.
You've got two daughters, isthat right?
Speaker 1 (37:44):
I've got a son and a daughter.
So my daughter's 21,.
Charlie, she's going well.
She's doing marketing comms outat Caulfield, monash, and she's
going well.
And then my son's 19.
He was doing science at Monashand he's actually embarked three
(38:06):
or four months ago on a prokick journey, which is the
punting program.
Speaker 3 (38:12):
Oh, okay.
Speaker 1 (38:15):
That's Nathan Chapman , former Brisbane Lions and
Hawthorne player, a Green BayPackers punter.
He developed the program goingback about 15 years ago now and
it's really about placing younglads into colleges on full-ride
scholarships.
So he's on his own journey andit's been great for him and,
(38:36):
yeah, everyone's happy and it'sall that matters.
Speaker 3 (38:38):
Oh, that's good.
Well, shane, it's been apleasure.
Thank you for coming on theFinance Friends podcast.
You provide really good insightinto your career as a
footballer and also, moreimportantly, your career as a
finance professional.
So, thank you.
We wish you all the best as adirector, executive director of
our capital and the businesshopefully continues to grow.
Speaker 1 (38:57):
Thanks, fabian, really appreciate the
opportunity and look forward tolistening to your other podcasts
.
Thank you, thank you.
Speaker 3 (39:08):
Thanks for listening this week.
Stay tuned for our next episodeand keep up to date with us by
following the Finance Friendspodcast on Instagram and TikTok
Plus.
Connect with us and our guestsover on our LinkedIn page, all
linked in the show notes.
Speaker 2 (39:29):
Disclaimer this podcast exists for informational
and entertainment purposes only.
The personal opinions of thespeaker and guests do not
represent the view of any otherparty.
If this recording containsreference to financial products,
that reference does notconstitute advice nor
recommendations and may not berelied upon.
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