Karla Way-McPhail: Build it, Back People, and Go the Whole Dream

“Don’t dream half the dream - dream the whole dream.” In this powerhouse episode, Karla Way-McPhail joins us from Yeppoon, Queensland to share how she grew from teacher to accidental entrepreneur leading 16 businesses under The Real Group and why her formula is simple: invest in people, not industries.

Karla opens up about the rituals and beliefs that fuel her resilience (yes, 4:30am calls, daily gratitude and her beloved morning bath), her people-first leadership playbook, and the bold bets that transformed a coastal town into a growing business hub. From logistics and training to salons and barges, Karla shows how clear values, empowered teams and radical optimism can scale anything.

She also tells the raw story of her husband’s sudden “widow-maker” heart attack, the months-long rebuild that followed and the perspective shift that reshaped their lives and companies. Expect goosebumps, straight talk, and a mic-drop message on belief, legacy and using business as a vehicle for good.

In this episode

• Go all-in: Why half-measures kill momentum - “have a go, go hard, and don’t shrink to fit.”
• People over products: Karla’s superpower is developing leaders who love coming to work and make great decisions in her absence.
• Purpose with teeth: How The Real Group formalised its giving through a charity that helps disadvantaged people - housing support, driving lessons, domestic violence assistance, prison-to-work pathways, and education for students expelled elsewhere.
• Build it where you are: The case for regional HQs - shortcommutes, community impact, and proving naysayers wrong by launching one of the largest face-to-face RTOs north of Brisbane.
• Mindset rituals: Gratitude bowls, future-vision checks, and surrendering the uncontrollable.
• Reinvention after crisis: Turning a life-altering health scare into a values reset (and a new chapter breeding Wagyu and Brahman cattle).
• No “yes-people”: Why candour beats consensus and how to keep “white noise” out of your orbit.
• Signature quote: “If you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.”

Shout-out to our partner

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Links & mentions

• The Real Group (Karla’s portfolio &philanthropy)
• Coach Carter quote (the “our deepest fear…”passage that Karla sends to her kids)