June 17, 2025 • 30 mins
Discover the powerful story of how a simple website for a family cabinet making business sparked a digital entrepreneurship journey that's now transforming Indigenous businesses across Australia. Adam Wooding, a proud Wemba Wemba man, takes us through his evolution from reluctant website developer to founder of Empower Digital, a thriving Indigenous-owned digital agency.
https://bit.ly/Adams_Website
What began with helping his father establish an online presence in the early 2000s has blossomed into a mission to empower First Nations businesses in the digital realm. With refreshing honesty, Adam shares practical wisdom about the right timing for digital investment—advising businesses to build social media presence first before investing in e-commerce solutions when direct message orders become unmanageable. This strategic approach has helped numerous Indigenous businesses scale effectively without premature digital investments.
The conversation reveals how pivotal relationships with support organizations like Indigenous Business Australia have been to Adam's success. From reluctantly attending workshops to becoming a valued service provider delivering digital training, his story demonstrates how engaging with support ecosystems can create unexpected growth opportunities. Most striking is Adam's insight that despite working in technology, it's real-world human connections that drive business success.
With a new Shopify app called POS Cafe and specialized programs for service-based businesses on the horizon, Adam and his partner Carmel continue expanding their impact while balancing business growth with family life and cultural connection. Their journey offers a blueprint for aspiring Indigenous digital entrepreneurs: start with relationships, understand the practical needs of your community, and create solutions that truly empower others to thrive.
Join us for this candid conversation about Indigenous entrepreneurship, digital strategy, and the importance of maintaining well-being while building businesses that serve future generations. Be inspired to take your next step in the digital landscape.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
David (00:00):
Adam, welcome to the podcast.
Adam (00:02):
Thank you so much, brother .
I really appreciate it.
I feel very honoured andprivileged to be here, so thank
you.
David (00:07):
Oh, it's great to have you.
You've travelled all the wayfrom Warwick to join us here in
North Mianjin, so thanks forcoming.
We're going to start right offthe bat, full name mob and maybe
where you grew up.
A little bit about those first15 years of your childhood, yeah
, sure.
Adam (00:25):
So full name Adam James Wooding.
I'm a proud Wemba Wemba man.
I was born and grew up onYugambeh country on the Gold
Coast, now living and workingout on Giddabool country in
Warwick, which is a small townabout an hour south of Toowoomba
.
I've been really exposed tobusiness for my whole life
(00:48):
because my dad's a businessowner and he was also really
quite involved in the communityon the Gold Coast through the
Calwen Development Corporation.
So we had a lot to do with thatand with mob through Calwen.
When I finished high school Iactually went to uni to study
psychology.
But my dad, as I said, was abusiness owner.
(01:12):
Just when I was studyingpsychology at uni he had just
come out of working full timeand starting up his business
again and he asked me if I couldhelp him out with his business.
David (01:27):
So the Calwen is the Aboriginal health centres around
the Gold Coast.
Yeah, yeah, I think I've beento the Calwen one just before
Burley is it around Miami?
Adam (01:35):
Yeah, there is one.
Yes, there's one there.
David (01:37):
Yeah, and with your dad being a businessman, at what age
was this point where he askedyou to come and help out?
Adam (01:45):
Always been really drawn to the internet.
There was this ability foranyone, whether it's a business
or individual, to share theirstory and connect with others
and I just felt really drawn tothat, naturally.
And so when I was helping mydad out with his business, I saw
(02:09):
an opportunity there to helphim to establish a website for
his business and he was reallyhappy for me to do that.
And around that time, aroundyear 2000, 2001, there weren't
many businesses that hadwebsites, especially cabinet
makers on the Gold Coast.
So his website that I createdit went really well straight
(02:32):
away.
He was able to really leveragemore inquiries and it just
really had a big impact.
So that was my first experiencegetting into creating a
business website.
David (02:46):
Is it safe to say that from that first website you were
hooked with the digital space?
Adam (02:51):
Yeah, 100%, and I think it's for me, a big part of it
was actually seeing the impactthat it had on my dad's business
and my family my dad's businessand my family, the ability for
(03:12):
my dad to reach a wider audienceand share his business and
share his story and then havethat increased cash flow.
All those things, I think, werewhat really got me hooked on
this concept of e-commerce andwhat it could do for small
business.
David (03:29):
I'm hearing these amazing stories.
That's quite innovative at thattime as well early 2000s.
I remember the internet backthen and I was going to ask
about going to your business nowand the name of your business
is yeah, empower Digital.
It seemed like you wereempowering your father.
(03:50):
Did the name have anything todo with that empowerment that
you gave your dad from helpinghim scale?
Adam (04:00):
I think that's definitely where it started.
I think that's definitely whereit started.
I did go and work for my dadfull-time for quite a few years
after uni and all those things.
Then, just when people wouldfind out what I was doing, I
always started getting inquiriesfrom other people just really
(04:21):
through word of mouth and endedup having quite a few little
side projects and things on thego.
And then Carmel and I got tothe stage where we felt like we
just wanted to have somethingthat was ours.
And around 2019, that's whenCarmel and I decided that we
would start our own business,and in the digital space.
So that's where we thought thatname Empower Digital just
(04:44):
summed up what we were trying toachieve and what our business
is all about.
David (04:49):
No, it's a great name, thank you.
Empowerment, I think, issomething that everyone can use
in any business and it's prettystraightforward.
You know you've got digital inthere as well, so let's talk
about your business now.
You, over those years doingthat work and having those side
hustles and supporting dad andthe family business, we could
(05:10):
say so yeah, tell us a bit moreabout that we didn't start out
with the intention of doing alot of e-commerce development
and web development projects.
Adam (05:18):
We actually started out, we we worked really hard for
quite a while to develop someworkshops and some programs that
we wanted to run and that wereall based around empowerment for
small business, and we quicklyrealized that there was a huge
number of businesses that neededto get online, get e-commerce
(05:40):
stores set up really quickly,and we were just in a really
good position to help businessesdo that.
So we, very unexpectedly, wethen formed new partnerships
with organizations and westarted running online workshops
and started helping businesseswith setting up their e-commerce
and digital tools, and thenthat just opened up a whole
(06:04):
bunch of new doors and newopportunities and new things
that we hadn't expected andhadn't planned on.
So a lot of our business to getwhere we are now has been a
very organic journey and justit's been very natural process,
very organic process.
David (06:21):
Yeah, I can sense that from the way it begun.
It wasn't a new business todayjust going.
I wanted to get a website.
You started helping people.
That's where it started andthen you've got the educational
component to the business, whichis different than just the let
us take care of everything.
Yes, I want to start with abusiness out there that may not
(06:46):
have a website.
They've got social mediachannels and they think, oh,
I've got Facebook and I've gotInstagram.
How important is it for abusiness, a mob business, a
First Nations business,especially who may not have ever
had one website?
How important is it to get awebsite for a business?
Adam (07:06):
Well, I actually think that starting with social media
is the place to start forbusinesses.
But then there comes a pointwhere an online store is really
important.
Once they've gotten to thatlevel, build the audience and
then when and this is where wecome in I think we've fit really
well with a business who hasstarted in that space, starting
(07:30):
to get lots of direct messageorders coming in and it just
starts getting overwhelming andnot scalable and too hard to
keep managing all those takingall the orders over email or
over direct message, and that'sa really good time to then go to
(07:50):
the website or e-commerceonline store step and then
they've got the traffic, they'vegot the audience, they've got
the orders coming in.
Then it can really help toscale.
Having the online store as aplace to manage all of the
orders coming in and thecustomers and manage all the
products and inventory, then itbecomes just vital.
David (08:10):
So I'm a small business, I'm an emerging business.
Establish the socials, my niche, my audience.
Yes.
Inquiries, inbox, email, salesstarting to get a little too
much Now we give Adam a call yes, and then we start to automate
those processes online, Exactlyyeah.
(08:31):
The store, attaching the PayPal, whatever preferred payment
methods, and get all that stuffgoing.
That's a great place to start.
Adam (08:38):
Yes, that's my opinion and that's through my experience.
That's what I feel is the bestprocess and the best steps,
that's great advice.
David (08:51):
There's some people again .
They dive straight for awebsite or they neglect it.
So I think, it's important toknow today, 2025, establish that
network audience.
Yeah, I don't like the wordcustomer.
You know you're sort of workingwith people, Exactly, let's
(09:12):
talk about.
You mentioned some IBAworkshops.
How did you hear about IBA?
And let's explore thoseworkshops.
Adam (09:19):
Definitely so.
I had a little bit of exposureto IBA back when I was working
for my dad's business.
It was actually Carmel whofirst found out where those
workshops were being run and, Ihave to be honest, I thought I
don't need to go to anyworkshops.
I've already got a fair bit ofexperience in business.
(09:43):
But Carmel was really insistentthat we should go along and so
I went along I have to be honest, a little bit reluctantly, but
the workshops were fantastic andso helpful.
They were around businessplanning and, I think, business
basics and some financial stuffand it was just really, really
(10:04):
worthwhile and we got a lot outof that.
It was wonderful.
Then, through those workshopsthat we attended, we actually
met an IBA representative.
His name's Neil Barry and wewere yarning with him and just
(10:24):
letting him know what we weredoing, what we were planning.
He mentioned to us that IBA hadan upcoming business
accelerator program and he justkind of mentioned to us and told
us that we should have a lookat it.
And we did have a look at itand we thought that there was no
way that our business would beaccepted into that.
I just felt like there'd beother businesses who accepted
(10:44):
into that.
I just felt like we were, thatthere'd be other businesses who
were more established.
I just didn't think we had achance.
But a few months later, andjust out of the blue, neil
emailed us and said oh, justletting you know this is open
for applications now, just incase you want to apply.
And so we did and didn't expectto hear back.
Then, a few weeks later, we gotan email back or a phone call
(11:07):
saying that we had been selectedto have an interview, we'd
moved on to the next stage ofthe application and then, before
we knew it, we had beenaccepted into the accelerator.
So we were very, very just sofortunate to be part of the
2019-2020 IBA BusinessAccelerator Program, and that
(11:30):
was just an incredibleexperience for us and it really
did help to accelerate ourbusiness.
It opened us up to so much moreand things that we didn't know
existed, and opportunities andnetworks, and so we were very
fortunate.
We were paired up with abusiness coach.
(11:52):
His name's Isaac Jeffries andhe's just an incredible business
coach, so he's been very, veryimportant and instrumental in
helping us to get to where weare now, and so we did that, and
then, towards the end of thataccelerator is when COVID just
(12:16):
started and towards the end ofthat accelerator is when COVID
just started becoming serious inAustralia.
Then, during the COVID period,iba also established a business
loan and grant offering thatthey had, and we actually took
(12:39):
that opportunity as well.
So we applied for a smallbusiness loan which helped us to
get some better equipment andthings, and part of that was a
grant as well.
So that was very, very helpfulfor our business.
And then, towards the middle toend of 2020, we started getting
some calls from IBA asking if wecould help out some of their
(13:00):
other IBA clients with somebusiness support and website
support and digital support.
And so then we worked on some ofthose workshops and programs
that I told you that we hadstarted out intending on doing.
We refined those and put aproposal together and we were
really fortunate that IBAapproved a quite a big
(13:22):
partnership.
So we were able to to establisha 12-month partnership with IBA
.
That was an amazing opportunityand we were able to to help a
huge number of businessesthrough through that program
that we had established.
And then we've continued to doa lot more business support for
(13:43):
IBA.
So not just saying this, butIBA has really been a very big
support of our business and it'sbeen just really instrumental
in our business success andwhere we are now and we, we
there's no way that we would bedoing what we're doing now
without the support of IBA on asboth business, business um
(14:08):
customers and also suppliers aswell.
We were really really thankfuland and and just so appreciative
of of the support that IBA hasprovided to us.
David (14:20):
I don't have to ask about any support now, because it was
evident.
And then what grew from being aclient grew into a great
partnership and again not to usethe word again but that
empowerment of what yous weredoing, the early education now
formed into a well-versed systemto help.
So I want to ask now aboutyou've gone into business, the
(14:47):
incredible stuff that you'vedone with IBA, Some of the
challenges that can come withbusiness why don't we just share
some of those challenges?
Maybe post-COVID, you know,business can go well one month,
one quarter, one year and thenhave some dips.
What are some of the digitalissues that a business can face?
Adam (15:10):
Things can happen unexpectedly and it was very,
very stressful when COVID causeda lot of the things that we, a
lot of the projects and thingsthat we had lined up to all fall
through.
I found that very hard to dealwith and extremely stressful.
Really awful not havinganything lined up, no income
(15:32):
coming in and just really beinguncertain about what the future
was going to hold.
I found that very, verychallenging.
So how did you?
David (15:43):
how'd you get through that?
Adam (15:45):
I think, definitely the support of Carmel.
So Carmel's she's just able todeal with that sort of stuff a
lot better than me, so she'sshe's just been very supportive
and always really positive andwe're both really open and we
share how we're feeling aboutthings and for me, just that
support of carmel was reallyreally important.
David (16:09):
And if carmel says to go to a workshop, yes, that you're
reluctant to go to, definitely,adam needs to go to that
workshop A hundred percent Verymuch so.
Adam (16:20):
So I think I am thankful for that experience, though, and
what we learned from that isthat we need to be diversified
in our income streams and alwaysand so that's something that
I'm very conscious about all thetime is, projects can fall
through or people can leavepositions and we don't have a
relationship anymore.
So we're always trying to havediverse income streams and
(16:45):
diverse partnerships and alwaysbe doing a lot of different
things, not be relying on anyone thing, not have all our eggs
in one basket all the time.
So some of the other challengesaround the digital space that
can happen for businesses areit's going to sound really
simple, but it actually causes alot of real stress that we've
(17:07):
helped businesses get through.
A business owner may have gonethrough another company or
another agency to set up helpset up their email or help set
up a really basic version oftheir website those kind of
things and all their domainnames and their social media
(17:27):
accounts and email is all insomeone else's name in another
company's name, is all insomeone else's name in another
company's name, and that can bevery, very stressful for
business, because they find outthey don't have ownership of any
of those things and it can bereally stressful to try and get
(17:48):
those back.
David (17:49):
It must be tricky for businesses that are navigating
social media.
But in the downtime, how isthat for you?
So you work in the digitalspace?
How is Adam when he's Adam andCarmel, when you guys are just a
weekend off Do you spend muchtime in the digital realm?
Adam (18:07):
We do, and I think that for us because I don't want to
sit here sounding like I've goteverything figured out and, I
know, have all the answers toeverything we are so busy all
the time and we've got so muchon the go and we've we've got
three kids as well, and and weactually have a second business
(18:28):
which I haven't even mentionedyet um, and we sometimes get
into bad habits of justscrolling and spending way too
much time on socials ourselves,and so they're things that we
are definitely working on andtrying to get better at as well
(18:49):
ourselves.
David (18:50):
I think everyone is.
I find myself I've got a greatrelationship with social media.
I've established rules andboundaries, but it's taken a
long time to even get there andsome days.
I forget.
Then I catch myself and I gowhoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,
whoa.
Adam (19:08):
Yeah.
David (19:09):
So, yeah, it must be tricky when your work is in the
digital space.
Now, let's say there's someemerging businesses out there.
They're watching this, they'reinterested in website design,
e-commerce, the digital space.
What's some advice for them toget started?
Some young mob out there thatmight be like hey, I'm
interested in websites, what'ssome advice?
Adam (19:34):
Yeah, so do you mean like someone who wants to do
something similar to what I'mdoing?
David (19:41):
Yeah, maybe they're curious, maybe they've got an
auntie that they see couldbenefit from a website and they
play around in the bedroom andand they can do it, but they
haven't made the step yet to say, honey, I could design that for
you.
What's some advice to get themout there or build their own
little?
Adam (19:58):
yeah, I think it's a business I think it's a
wonderful opportunity and Ithink it's a really worthwhile
space to get into.
It is a very competitive spaceand often small businesses,
micro-businesses and startupsoften can be quite cash poor, so
(20:18):
they're looking for the bestdeal, which I completely
understand, the best deal, whichI completely understand.
So sometimes in that space itcan be a little bit of a race to
the bottom in terms of pricingand things.
So what we've found that'sworked really well for us is we
try to partner withorganizations that have business
(20:41):
programs or, um, businessmentoring and things such as IBA
that they offer to to help mobout.
That's the approach that I verymuch, that works really well
for us and I and I think thatthat would be the approach that
I would recommend new businessesto try and find out who which
(21:05):
organizations are supporting,supporting more, but have have
programs and things in place andand try and partner with those
organizations, which does.
It takes time to build thoserelationships, but for me that's
the approach that I think worksworks really well no, that's
great advice because competitive.
David (21:26):
So instantly for those aspiring digital artists start
to diversify already.
Think of your point ofdifference, an educational
component or somewhere that whenyou launch that micro or
startup, you've got that pointof difference.
You're aligning yourself withorganizations.
That almost an impact campaignin the in the film industry.
(21:49):
We do impact how we're going tobenefit the community this.
Adam (21:53):
There's so much out there, there's so much opportunity out
there.
What's worked really well forus is is building relationships.
Even though we're in thedigital space, um, it's the real
world relationships that we'vebuilt that have had the most
impact on our business, and justbuilding relationships has been
(22:16):
the absolute foundation of oursuccess.
And where we've gotten today,success and where we've gotten
today In conjunction with beingan expert in what you do
building those realrelationships in the real world
(22:36):
then translates through todigital.
David (22:37):
It's hard to explain but that's what we've found.
I think that's really greatadvice.
What does the future hold forEmpower Digital?
Adam (22:44):
We we've got a lot of things coming up which we're
really excited about.
So for Empower Digital, we havea program that we are a new
program that we're currentlyworking on which we're really
excited about.
That's going to have somein-person part of it and then
some follow-up online componentsas well.
(23:06):
We've provided a lot of supportand done a lot of work with
e-commerce businesses.
We also have seen that there'sa lot of things happening in the
tourism space as well fortourism-based businesses.
But we get a lot of inquiriesand a lot of people asking us
for support who have businessesthat are more service-oriented.
(23:30):
So it could be a tradespersonor it could be someone who
provides something likeaccounting or just anything that
doesn't fall into products andalso doesn't fall into tourism,
but is more someone who's kindof selling their time or
(23:50):
providing some kind of services.
We saw an opportunity there andwe've developed a program
that's specifically targetedtowards service-based businesses
.
So we're really excited aboutthat that's coming up.
We've got lots of e-commerceprojects and things that we're
working on.
Six or eight months ago, westarted a new business, which is
(24:12):
it's called POS Cafe, so we'vebuilt a Shopify app that was
created out of a from workingwith a business called Naramili
or an organization, sorry,called Naramili down in Victoria
.
So they came to us and we helpedthem to set up all of their
e-commerce and their point ofsale.
When it got time to helpingthem set up their coffee shop,
(24:35):
we realized that on the Shopifyplatform, which is an e-commerce
platform that we do a lot ofwork on, there wasn't an easy
way to set up a food andbeverage type business on there.
So we saw an opportunity thereto fill a need and to create
something, and we've always hada goal of building an app.
(24:57):
So we jumped in and we builtour app, which is called POS
Cafe or POS Cafe, and so thatwas always intended to be a
little bit of a side hustle, butit's quickly becoming a really
big full-time business in itselfand it's got a lot of interest
and a lot of things happeningaround that.
So we're currently working ontwo businesses full-time and
(25:20):
really excited about where bothof them are going.
David (25:25):
That's great.
We'll definitely be checkingout POS Cafe for sure.
Yeah, thank you, want to hearmore about it.
Let's close out by talkingabout what you like to do to
relax, to reset, to keep youinspired from business, or
inspired to do business frombusiness or inspired to do
(25:50):
business um, positive, I guess,emotional, spiritual things that
you do to sort of keep up thishustle of doing those two
businesses what are some thingsthat you like to do and some
advice for others to to keep thespirit strong, yeah thank you,
um, so it.
Adam (26:04):
I think, if I have, I do need to be really honest with
you and say that it is reallychallenging and the reason that
we're doing what we're doing isfor we're trying to build
something for future generations, something for our kids and
(26:26):
also our community, and I thinkkeeping that in mind, why we're
doing what we're doing, helps meto keep going.
Our businesses have grown andsupporting that growth is
something that we're working onat the moment have grown, and
(26:46):
supporting that growth issomething that we're working on
at the moment.
I'm very fortunate that I havea lot of opportunities to get
out on country and working withmob, remote communities and
things, and just being out oncountry really really helps to
stay grounded and to reset.
So having those opportunitiesis something I'm really thankful
for and that's that's reallyhelpful for me.
(27:08):
Spending time with family andwithout, with our kids and
having quality time with ourkids is really helpful too.
I think Carmel and I just we arevery fortunate to have such a
strong relationship and wecommunicate really well and just
share how we're feeling andshare when we're struggling,
when we're feeling down, sharingthat with each other, and I'm
(27:31):
very fortunate to have someamazing mentors and other
community members and eldersthat I'm able to talk to and
that really help to support meable to talk to and that really
helped to support me.
I hope it's okay to say that bigshout out to Jack and Lisa
(27:51):
Bullman from Mibambar SpiritHealing.
So they're an organisation thatspecialises in mental health
Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander mental health and
they're really close friends ofours and they have provided a
lot of support to us, um, aswell.
But I don't want to sit hereand sound like I've got all the
answers, because it's I'm stillfiguring it out and it and that
(28:16):
mental health side of things issomething that is an ongoing
challenge and something thatthat, um, I haven't got all the
answers to yet because, uh, withour businesses, they have grown
and we we're still in the thickof trying to figure how all
that out and getting bettersystems in place and things.
(28:39):
And I think probably right now,um, hopefully I'll have a yarn
with you down the track and beable to look back and be in a
better place, but right now wejust really are in in the middle
of of everything being reallybusy and stressful and full-on,
so we're definitely not perfectat the moment, but there's
(29:02):
probably a lot other things thatwe need to do to improve on
that stuff.
David (29:07):
Thank you for sharing because business is tough and I
loved that you talked aboutbusiness earlier and building
those relationships and then,when we just talked about the
emotional and mental andspiritual health side of it, it
was directly linked to the work,what you said building those
relationships, family, community, great mentors and it seems
(29:33):
like the strength is in what thework you are doing.
From listening to you talkabout how to help with business,
those same things are instilledwith the you know, the mentors
and the family and the greatpeople you're around.
So thank you so much, adam, foryour time.
Thank you, brother, reallyappreciate it and we'll keep
(29:57):
yarning.
Adam (29:57):
Thank you so much.
It's been an absolute honor andprivilege to be here today and
just love, love yarning with you.
So thank you.
Adam, welcome to the podcast.
Adam (00:02):
Thank you so much, brother .
I really appreciate it.
I feel very honoured andprivileged to be here, so thank
you.
David (00:07):
Oh, it's great to have you.
You've travelled all the wayfrom Warwick to join us here in
North Mianjin, so thanks forcoming.
We're going to start right offthe bat, full name mob and maybe
where you grew up.
A little bit about those first15 years of your childhood, yeah
, sure.
Adam (00:25):
So full name Adam James Wooding.
I'm a proud Wemba Wemba man.
I was born and grew up onYugambeh country on the Gold
Coast, now living and workingout on Giddabool country in
Warwick, which is a small townabout an hour south of Toowoomba
.
I've been really exposed tobusiness for my whole life
(00:48):
because my dad's a businessowner and he was also really
quite involved in the communityon the Gold Coast through the
Calwen Development Corporation.
So we had a lot to do with thatand with mob through Calwen.
When I finished high school Iactually went to uni to study
psychology.
But my dad, as I said, was abusiness owner.
(01:12):
Just when I was studyingpsychology at uni he had just
come out of working full timeand starting up his business
again and he asked me if I couldhelp him out with his business.
David (01:27):
So the Calwen is the Aboriginal health centres around
the Gold Coast.
Yeah, yeah, I think I've beento the Calwen one just before
Burley is it around Miami?
Adam (01:35):
Yeah, there is one.
Yes, there's one there.
David (01:37):
Yeah, and with your dad being a businessman, at what age
was this point where he askedyou to come and help out?
Adam (01:45):
Always been really drawn to the internet.
There was this ability foranyone, whether it's a business
or individual, to share theirstory and connect with others
and I just felt really drawn tothat, naturally.
And so when I was helping mydad out with his business, I saw
(02:09):
an opportunity there to helphim to establish a website for
his business and he was reallyhappy for me to do that.
And around that time, aroundyear 2000, 2001, there weren't
many businesses that hadwebsites, especially cabinet
makers on the Gold Coast.
So his website that I createdit went really well straight
(02:32):
away.
He was able to really leveragemore inquiries and it just
really had a big impact.
So that was my first experiencegetting into creating a
business website.
David (02:46):
Is it safe to say that from that first website you were
hooked with the digital space?
Adam (02:51):
Yeah, 100%, and I think it's for me, a big part of it
was actually seeing the impactthat it had on my dad's business
and my family my dad's businessand my family, the ability for
(03:12):
my dad to reach a wider audienceand share his business and
share his story and then havethat increased cash flow.
All those things, I think, werewhat really got me hooked on
this concept of e-commerce andwhat it could do for small
business.
David (03:29):
I'm hearing these amazing stories.
That's quite innovative at thattime as well early 2000s.
I remember the internet backthen and I was going to ask
about going to your business nowand the name of your business
is yeah, empower Digital.
It seemed like you wereempowering your father.
(03:50):
Did the name have anything todo with that empowerment that
you gave your dad from helpinghim scale?
Adam (04:00):
I think that's definitely where it started.
I think that's definitely whereit started.
I did go and work for my dadfull-time for quite a few years
after uni and all those things.
Then, just when people wouldfind out what I was doing, I
always started getting inquiriesfrom other people just really
(04:21):
through word of mouth and endedup having quite a few little
side projects and things on thego.
And then Carmel and I got tothe stage where we felt like we
just wanted to have somethingthat was ours.
And around 2019, that's whenCarmel and I decided that we
would start our own business,and in the digital space.
So that's where we thought thatname Empower Digital just
(04:44):
summed up what we were trying toachieve and what our business
is all about.
David (04:49):
No, it's a great name, thank you.
Empowerment, I think, issomething that everyone can use
in any business and it's prettystraightforward.
You know you've got digital inthere as well, so let's talk
about your business now.
You, over those years doingthat work and having those side
hustles and supporting dad andthe family business, we could
(05:10):
say so yeah, tell us a bit moreabout that we didn't start out
with the intention of doing alot of e-commerce development
and web development projects.
Adam (05:18):
We actually started out, we we worked really hard for
quite a while to develop someworkshops and some programs that
we wanted to run and that wereall based around empowerment for
small business, and we quicklyrealized that there was a huge
number of businesses that neededto get online, get e-commerce
(05:40):
stores set up really quickly,and we were just in a really
good position to help businessesdo that.
So we, very unexpectedly, wethen formed new partnerships
with organizations and westarted running online workshops
and started helping businesseswith setting up their e-commerce
and digital tools, and thenthat just opened up a whole
(06:04):
bunch of new doors and newopportunities and new things
that we hadn't expected andhadn't planned on.
So a lot of our business to getwhere we are now has been a
very organic journey and justit's been very natural process,
very organic process.
David (06:21):
Yeah, I can sense that from the way it begun.
It wasn't a new business todayjust going.
I wanted to get a website.
You started helping people.
That's where it started andthen you've got the educational
component to the business, whichis different than just the let
us take care of everything.
Yes, I want to start with abusiness out there that may not
(06:46):
have a website.
They've got social mediachannels and they think, oh,
I've got Facebook and I've gotInstagram.
How important is it for abusiness, a mob business, a
First Nations business,especially who may not have ever
had one website?
How important is it to get awebsite for a business?
Adam (07:06):
Well, I actually think that starting with social media
is the place to start forbusinesses.
But then there comes a pointwhere an online store is really
important.
Once they've gotten to thatlevel, build the audience and
then when and this is where wecome in I think we've fit really
well with a business who hasstarted in that space, starting
(07:30):
to get lots of direct messageorders coming in and it just
starts getting overwhelming andnot scalable and too hard to
keep managing all those takingall the orders over email or
over direct message, and that'sa really good time to then go to
(07:50):
the website or e-commerceonline store step and then
they've got the traffic, they'vegot the audience, they've got
the orders coming in.
Then it can really help toscale.
Having the online store as aplace to manage all of the
orders coming in and thecustomers and manage all the
products and inventory, then itbecomes just vital.
David (08:10):
So I'm a small business, I'm an emerging business.
Establish the socials, my niche, my audience.
Yes.
Inquiries, inbox, email, salesstarting to get a little too
much Now we give Adam a call yes, and then we start to automate
those processes online, Exactlyyeah.
(08:31):
The store, attaching the PayPal, whatever preferred payment
methods, and get all that stuffgoing.
That's a great place to start.
Adam (08:38):
Yes, that's my opinion and that's through my experience.
That's what I feel is the bestprocess and the best steps,
that's great advice.
David (08:51):
There's some people again .
They dive straight for awebsite or they neglect it.
So I think, it's important toknow today, 2025, establish that
network audience.
Yeah, I don't like the wordcustomer.
You know you're sort of workingwith people, Exactly, let's
(09:12):
talk about.
You mentioned some IBAworkshops.
How did you hear about IBA?
And let's explore thoseworkshops.
Adam (09:19):
Definitely so.
I had a little bit of exposureto IBA back when I was working
for my dad's business.
It was actually Carmel whofirst found out where those
workshops were being run and, Ihave to be honest, I thought I
don't need to go to anyworkshops.
I've already got a fair bit ofexperience in business.
(09:43):
But Carmel was really insistentthat we should go along and so
I went along I have to be honest, a little bit reluctantly, but
the workshops were fantastic andso helpful.
They were around businessplanning and, I think, business
basics and some financial stuffand it was just really, really
(10:04):
worthwhile and we got a lot outof that.
It was wonderful.
Then, through those workshopsthat we attended, we actually
met an IBA representative.
His name's Neil Barry and wewere yarning with him and just
(10:24):
letting him know what we weredoing, what we were planning.
He mentioned to us that IBA hadan upcoming business
accelerator program and he justkind of mentioned to us and told
us that we should have a lookat it.
And we did have a look at itand we thought that there was no
way that our business would beaccepted into that.
I just felt like there'd beother businesses who accepted
(10:44):
into that.
I just felt like we were, thatthere'd be other businesses who
were more established.
I just didn't think we had achance.
But a few months later, andjust out of the blue, neil
emailed us and said oh, justletting you know this is open
for applications now, just incase you want to apply.
And so we did and didn't expectto hear back.
Then, a few weeks later, we gotan email back or a phone call
(11:07):
saying that we had been selectedto have an interview, we'd
moved on to the next stage ofthe application and then, before
we knew it, we had beenaccepted into the accelerator.
So we were very, very just sofortunate to be part of the
2019-2020 IBA BusinessAccelerator Program, and that
(11:30):
was just an incredibleexperience for us and it really
did help to accelerate ourbusiness.
It opened us up to so much moreand things that we didn't know
existed, and opportunities andnetworks, and so we were very
fortunate.
We were paired up with abusiness coach.
(11:52):
His name's Isaac Jeffries andhe's just an incredible business
coach, so he's been very, veryimportant and instrumental in
helping us to get to where weare now, and so we did that, and
then, towards the end of thataccelerator is when COVID just
(12:16):
started and towards the end ofthat accelerator is when COVID
just started becoming serious inAustralia.
Then, during the COVID period,iba also established a business
loan and grant offering thatthey had, and we actually took
(12:39):
that opportunity as well.
So we applied for a smallbusiness loan which helped us to
get some better equipment andthings, and part of that was a
grant as well.
So that was very, very helpfulfor our business.
And then, towards the middle toend of 2020, we started getting
some calls from IBA asking if wecould help out some of their
(13:00):
other IBA clients with somebusiness support and website
support and digital support.
And so then we worked on some ofthose workshops and programs
that I told you that we hadstarted out intending on doing.
We refined those and put aproposal together and we were
really fortunate that IBAapproved a quite a big
(13:22):
partnership.
So we were able to to establisha 12-month partnership with IBA
.
That was an amazing opportunityand we were able to to help a
huge number of businessesthrough through that program
that we had established.
And then we've continued to doa lot more business support for
(13:43):
IBA.
So not just saying this, butIBA has really been a very big
support of our business and it'sbeen just really instrumental
in our business success andwhere we are now and we, we
there's no way that we would bedoing what we're doing now
without the support of IBA on asboth business, business um
(14:08):
customers and also suppliers aswell.
We were really really thankfuland and and just so appreciative
of of the support that IBA hasprovided to us.
David (14:20):
I don't have to ask about any support now, because it was
evident.
And then what grew from being aclient grew into a great
partnership and again not to usethe word again but that
empowerment of what yous weredoing, the early education now
formed into a well-versed systemto help.
So I want to ask now aboutyou've gone into business, the
(14:47):
incredible stuff that you'vedone with IBA, Some of the
challenges that can come withbusiness why don't we just share
some of those challenges?
Maybe post-COVID, you know,business can go well one month,
one quarter, one year and thenhave some dips.
What are some of the digitalissues that a business can face?
Adam (15:10):
Things can happen unexpectedly and it was very,
very stressful when COVID causeda lot of the things that we, a
lot of the projects and thingsthat we had lined up to all fall
through.
I found that very hard to dealwith and extremely stressful.
Really awful not havinganything lined up, no income
(15:32):
coming in and just really beinguncertain about what the future
was going to hold.
I found that very, verychallenging.
So how did you?
David (15:43):
how'd you get through that?
Adam (15:45):
I think, definitely the support of Carmel.
So Carmel's she's just able todeal with that sort of stuff a
lot better than me, so she'sshe's just been very supportive
and always really positive andwe're both really open and we
share how we're feeling aboutthings and for me, just that
support of carmel was reallyreally important.
David (16:09):
And if carmel says to go to a workshop, yes, that you're
reluctant to go to, definitely,adam needs to go to that
workshop A hundred percent Verymuch so.
Adam (16:20):
So I think I am thankful for that experience, though, and
what we learned from that isthat we need to be diversified
in our income streams and alwaysand so that's something that
I'm very conscious about all thetime is, projects can fall
through or people can leavepositions and we don't have a
relationship anymore.
So we're always trying to havediverse income streams and
(16:45):
diverse partnerships and alwaysbe doing a lot of different
things, not be relying on anyone thing, not have all our eggs
in one basket all the time.
So some of the other challengesaround the digital space that
can happen for businesses areit's going to sound really
simple, but it actually causes alot of real stress that we've
(17:07):
helped businesses get through.
A business owner may have gonethrough another company or
another agency to set up helpset up their email or help set
up a really basic version oftheir website those kind of
things and all their domainnames and their social media
(17:27):
accounts and email is all insomeone else's name in another
company's name, is all insomeone else's name in another
company's name, and that can bevery, very stressful for
business, because they find outthey don't have ownership of any
of those things and it can bereally stressful to try and get
(17:48):
those back.
David (17:49):
It must be tricky for businesses that are navigating
social media.
But in the downtime, how isthat for you?
So you work in the digitalspace?
How is Adam when he's Adam andCarmel, when you guys are just a
weekend off Do you spend muchtime in the digital realm?
Adam (18:07):
We do, and I think that for us because I don't want to
sit here sounding like I've goteverything figured out and, I
know, have all the answers toeverything we are so busy all
the time and we've got so muchon the go and we've we've got
three kids as well, and and weactually have a second business
(18:28):
which I haven't even mentionedyet um, and we sometimes get
into bad habits of justscrolling and spending way too
much time on socials ourselves,and so they're things that we
are definitely working on andtrying to get better at as well
(18:49):
ourselves.
David (18:50):
I think everyone is.
I find myself I've got a greatrelationship with social media.
I've established rules andboundaries, but it's taken a
long time to even get there andsome days.
I forget.
Then I catch myself and I gowhoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,
whoa.
Adam (19:08):
Yeah.
David (19:09):
So, yeah, it must be tricky when your work is in the
digital space.
Now, let's say there's someemerging businesses out there.
They're watching this, they'reinterested in website design,
e-commerce, the digital space.
What's some advice for them toget started?
Some young mob out there thatmight be like hey, I'm
interested in websites, what'ssome advice?
Adam (19:34):
Yeah, so do you mean like someone who wants to do
something similar to what I'mdoing?
David (19:41):
Yeah, maybe they're curious, maybe they've got an
auntie that they see couldbenefit from a website and they
play around in the bedroom andand they can do it, but they
haven't made the step yet to say, honey, I could design that for
you.
What's some advice to get themout there or build their own
little?
Adam (19:58):
yeah, I think it's a business I think it's a
wonderful opportunity and Ithink it's a really worthwhile
space to get into.
It is a very competitive spaceand often small businesses,
micro-businesses and startupsoften can be quite cash poor, so
(20:18):
they're looking for the bestdeal, which I completely
understand, the best deal, whichI completely understand.
So sometimes in that space itcan be a little bit of a race to
the bottom in terms of pricingand things.
So what we've found that'sworked really well for us is we
try to partner withorganizations that have business
(20:41):
programs or, um, businessmentoring and things such as IBA
that they offer to to help mobout.
That's the approach that I verymuch, that works really well
for us and I and I think thatthat would be the approach that
I would recommend new businessesto try and find out who which
(21:05):
organizations are supporting,supporting more, but have have
programs and things in place andand try and partner with those
organizations, which does.
It takes time to build thoserelationships, but for me that's
the approach that I think worksworks really well no, that's
great advice because competitive.
David (21:26):
So instantly for those aspiring digital artists start
to diversify already.
Think of your point ofdifference, an educational
component or somewhere that whenyou launch that micro or
startup, you've got that pointof difference.
You're aligning yourself withorganizations.
That almost an impact campaignin the in the film industry.
(21:49):
We do impact how we're going tobenefit the community this.
Adam (21:53):
There's so much out there, there's so much opportunity out
there.
What's worked really well forus is is building relationships.
Even though we're in thedigital space, um, it's the real
world relationships that we'vebuilt that have had the most
impact on our business, and justbuilding relationships has been
(22:16):
the absolute foundation of oursuccess.
And where we've gotten today,success and where we've gotten
today In conjunction with beingan expert in what you do
building those realrelationships in the real world
(22:36):
then translates through todigital.
David (22:37):
It's hard to explain but that's what we've found.
I think that's really greatadvice.
What does the future hold forEmpower Digital?
Adam (22:44):
We we've got a lot of things coming up which we're
really excited about.
So for Empower Digital, we havea program that we are a new
program that we're currentlyworking on which we're really
excited about.
That's going to have somein-person part of it and then
some follow-up online componentsas well.
(23:06):
We've provided a lot of supportand done a lot of work with
e-commerce businesses.
We also have seen that there'sa lot of things happening in the
tourism space as well fortourism-based businesses.
But we get a lot of inquiriesand a lot of people asking us
for support who have businessesthat are more service-oriented.
(23:30):
So it could be a tradespersonor it could be someone who
provides something likeaccounting or just anything that
doesn't fall into products andalso doesn't fall into tourism,
but is more someone who's kindof selling their time or
(23:50):
providing some kind of services.
We saw an opportunity there andwe've developed a program
that's specifically targetedtowards service-based businesses
.
So we're really excited aboutthat that's coming up.
We've got lots of e-commerceprojects and things that we're
working on.
Six or eight months ago, westarted a new business, which is
(24:12):
it's called POS Cafe, so we'vebuilt a Shopify app that was
created out of a from workingwith a business called Naramili
or an organization, sorry,called Naramili down in Victoria
.
So they came to us and we helpedthem to set up all of their
e-commerce and their point ofsale.
When it got time to helpingthem set up their coffee shop,
(24:35):
we realized that on the Shopifyplatform, which is an e-commerce
platform that we do a lot ofwork on, there wasn't an easy
way to set up a food andbeverage type business on there.
So we saw an opportunity thereto fill a need and to create
something, and we've always hada goal of building an app.
(24:57):
So we jumped in and we builtour app, which is called POS
Cafe or POS Cafe, and so thatwas always intended to be a
little bit of a side hustle, butit's quickly becoming a really
big full-time business in itselfand it's got a lot of interest
and a lot of things happeningaround that.
So we're currently working ontwo businesses full-time and
(25:20):
really excited about where bothof them are going.
David (25:25):
That's great.
We'll definitely be checkingout POS Cafe for sure.
Yeah, thank you, want to hearmore about it.
Let's close out by talkingabout what you like to do to
relax, to reset, to keep youinspired from business, or
inspired to do business frombusiness or inspired to do
(25:50):
business um, positive, I guess,emotional, spiritual things that
you do to sort of keep up thishustle of doing those two
businesses what are some thingsthat you like to do and some
advice for others to to keep thespirit strong, yeah thank you,
um, so it.
Adam (26:04):
I think, if I have, I do need to be really honest with
you and say that it is reallychallenging and the reason that
we're doing what we're doing isfor we're trying to build
something for future generations, something for our kids and
(26:26):
also our community, and I thinkkeeping that in mind, why we're
doing what we're doing, helps meto keep going.
Our businesses have grown andsupporting that growth is
something that we're working onat the moment have grown, and
(26:46):
supporting that growth issomething that we're working on
at the moment.
I'm very fortunate that I havea lot of opportunities to get
out on country and working withmob, remote communities and
things, and just being out oncountry really really helps to
stay grounded and to reset.
So having those opportunitiesis something I'm really thankful
for and that's that's reallyhelpful for me.
(27:08):
Spending time with family andwithout, with our kids and
having quality time with ourkids is really helpful too.
I think Carmel and I just we arevery fortunate to have such a
strong relationship and wecommunicate really well and just
share how we're feeling andshare when we're struggling,
when we're feeling down, sharingthat with each other, and I'm
(27:31):
very fortunate to have someamazing mentors and other
community members and eldersthat I'm able to talk to and
that really help to support meable to talk to and that really
helped to support me.
I hope it's okay to say that bigshout out to Jack and Lisa
(27:51):
Bullman from Mibambar SpiritHealing.
So they're an organisation thatspecialises in mental health
Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander mental health and
they're really close friends ofours and they have provided a
lot of support to us, um, aswell.
But I don't want to sit hereand sound like I've got all the
answers, because it's I'm stillfiguring it out and it and that
(28:16):
mental health side of things issomething that is an ongoing
challenge and something thatthat, um, I haven't got all the
answers to yet because, uh, withour businesses, they have grown
and we we're still in the thickof trying to figure how all
that out and getting bettersystems in place and things.
(28:39):
And I think probably right now,um, hopefully I'll have a yarn
with you down the track and beable to look back and be in a
better place, but right now wejust really are in in the middle
of of everything being reallybusy and stressful and full-on,
so we're definitely not perfectat the moment, but there's
(29:02):
probably a lot other things thatwe need to do to improve on
that stuff.
David (29:07):
Thank you for sharing because business is tough and I
loved that you talked aboutbusiness earlier and building
those relationships and then,when we just talked about the
emotional and mental andspiritual health side of it, it
was directly linked to the work,what you said building those
relationships, family, community, great mentors and it seems
(29:33):
like the strength is in what thework you are doing.
From listening to you talkabout how to help with business,
those same things are instilledwith the you know, the mentors
and the family and the greatpeople you're around.
So thank you so much, adam, foryour time.
Thank you, brother, reallyappreciate it and we'll keep
(29:57):
yarning.
Adam (29:57):
Thank you so much.
It's been an absolute honor andprivilege to be here today and
just love, love yarning with you.
So thank you.
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