377. Tim Oberg, Former CEO of parkrun Australia, on escaping the rat race, building a vibrant community and managing anxiety [Best of Series]

"It's now obvious to me that it's harder to maintain that sense of community unless you've got things like parkrun that are driving that connection."

 

In this Best of Series episode, we replay a chat we had in 2019 with Tim Oberg, Former CEO of parkrun Australia on escaping the rat race, building a vibrant community and managing anxiety.

 

🎧👉  chiefmaker.com/377 👂

 

WANT TO ACCELERATE YOUR NEXT PROMOTION? COMPLETE YOUR FREE CAREER SCORECARD: www.chiefmaker.com/score-card

 

Tim has a background in teaching and travel, having set up his own tour business in London in the early 2000s. He stumbled upon the parkrun concept in the UK in 2010 and pitched to the owner to be the one to take it to Australia, thereafter leading the regional business for nearly 12 years.

Tim is now the Founder of Next Stars Sports Academy and the Healthy Kids Project, as he uses his vast experience in health and wellbeing to tackle some of the biggest challenges amongst the younger generations.

He is also a Board member at Little Athletics Queensland and lives in Airlie Beach with his wife and 4 kids (congrats to them as they recently welcomed a little baby girl!).

In this Best of Series Masterclass we talk about:

✅ His epic back story that got him to where he is today - you'll really love this as it's one of the most in-depth, interesting and crazy ones we've ever had on the Inner Chief podcast!

✅ The courage he showed in repeatedly escaping the rat race to start his own businesses.

✅ Growing the parkrun Australia community from nothing to the biggest of its kind in the country, and

✅ How he has survived and thrived despite living with and managing anxiety.

Stay epic,

Greg

Connecting with Tim Oberg

You can reach Tim via LinkedIn.

Books and Resources

• Headspace app

• Beating Anxiety - SBS Insight TV show that Tim appeared on

• parkrun, anxiety and me - article posted by Tim after his recovery

• Dare - by Barry McDonagh

Similar Episodes on community building

• Juliette Wright OAM, Founder of GIVIT, on Revolutionising misguided charitable giving, having a million conversations, and leaning into anxiety

• Daniel Penny, MD of Mustard Creative, on Going beyond the brief and understanding your influence

• Mike Smith, Founder and CEO of Zero Co, on Building a tribe of loyal customers, and creating a better world through business

Follow Chief Maker

📝 Get my Finish Strong monthly newsletter with insanely valuable career tips

👍 Follow Chief Maker on LinkedIn or Instagram

📈 Join the waitlist for the Chief Maker MiniMBA

🎓 Take one of the Chief Maker Academy courses

🍏 Subscribe for free to The Inner Chief podcast on Apple Podcasts

🎵 Subscribe for free to The Inner Chief podcast on Spotify

🎬 Subscribe for free to the Chief Maker YouTube channel

🤝 Connect w