May 8, 2025 • 43 mins
Ask Nigel Rawlins a question or send feedback, click the link to text me.
What happens when a distinguished accounting professor decides there's more to life than academia? In this captivating conversation, 66-year-old Kim Watty reveals her remarkable journey from emeritus professor to entrepreneur, co-founding The Main Act with her daughter Prue.
After three decades teaching accounting at prestigious Australian universities, Kim felt pulled toward a different purpose. That calling materialized as a business helping women design purposeful retirements that transcend the typical financial focus. "Pop 'retirement for women' in your browser," Kim explains, "and nine out of ten references will be about finances." The Main Act fills this gap by addressing the emotional, social, and purpose-driven aspects of this major life transition.
Their flagship "Retirement by Design" program—built on Stanford Business School methodology—guides women through an eight-week journey of self-discovery and intention-setting. Participants create three "odyssey plans" for different possible futures, developing the tools and confidence to design their next chapter with purpose. The carefully curated small groups bring together women with similar mindsets around curiosity and action, creating powerful community connections.
Kim's personal transformation mirrors what she hopes to inspire in others. The former accounting professor now starts her days swimming in Melbourne Bay with the Icebergers (wetsuit-free, even in winter!), practices meditation and yoga, and has completely transformed her reading list from academic journals to books on mindfulness and life design. Working alongside her daughter brings the added dimension of cross-generational perspectives.
The statistics are striking—62% of women wish they'd planned better for retirement, with half wishing they'd started earlier. By reframing retirement not as an ending but as taking greater control of how you spend your time, The Main Act helps women see this transition as an opportunity rather than a loss. As Kim wisely observes, "Retirement isn't about finishing work; it's about taking more control of the different activities that make up your life."
Ready to design your next chapter with intention? Explore u
Wisepreneurs Newsletter: Thrive at 60+ with Purpose & Strategy
Smart, Sustainable Support for Women Entrepreneurs Beyond 60
Sign up here: https://wisepreneurs.com.au/newsletter/
Connect with Nigel Rawlins
website https://wisepreneurs.com.au/
Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/nigelrawlins/
Twitter https://twitter.com/wisepreneurs
Please support the podcast
https://www.buzzsprout.com/2311675/supporters/new
Stay one step ahead with The Wisepreneurs Insider newsletter
As a subscriber, you'll get:
- Sneak peeks at upcoming must-listen podcast episodes and guests
- Bonus wisdom straight from recent guest experts
- Marketing tips to attract your ideal clients
- Productivity hacks to streamline your independent business
- And more exclusive insights are delivered right to your inbox!
- Don't miss out on these invaluable resources
- Subscribe now and gain the edge you need to survive and thrive as a wisepreneur
<
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Nigel Rawlins (00:00):
Welcome to episode 68 of the Wisepreneurs
podcast.
Today I'm thrilled to chat withKim Wattie, a 66-year-old
emeritus professor of accountingturned entrepreneur.
After a distinguished academiccareer, kim co-founded the Main
Act with her daughter Prue tohelp women design purposeful
retirements.
Join us for an inspiring storyof reinvention and community.
(00:23):
Kim, welcome to theWisepreneurs podcast.
Could you tell us somethingabout yourself and where you're
from?
Kim Watty (00:31):
Yeah, I'm a 66-year-old semi-retired woman.
I live down by the bay and loveto be in the bay each morning.
I'm a mum of two adult childrenand I am fortunate enough to be
very close to my family andcurrently working with my
daughter on a project which wehope we'll talk about a bit
(00:53):
later on.
We will.
Nigel Rawlins (00:55):
So which bay are you talking about?
Kim Watty (00:58):
Oh, port Melbourne.
So I swim in the bay eachmorning with the Port Melbourne
Icebergers.
I don't swim too far.
About a kilometre is my limit.
But this is not a competitionfor me.
I've had enough of that in myother stages of my life.
But we swim probably swim sixof seven days rain, hail and
shine, cold and hot, and I'mvery proud.
(01:19):
I don't have a wetsuit, so Ijust get in there and swim.
Nigel Rawlins (01:22):
In winter as well .
Kim Watty (01:23):
In winter as well.
Nigel Rawlins (01:24):
Without a wetsuit .
So I just get in there and swimIn winter as well.
Kim Watty (01:26):
In winter as well, without a wetsuit.
It's fantastic, the endorphinsgo through the roof, yeah they
would Now for the non-Australianlisteners.
Nigel Rawlins (01:31):
Melbourne is the capital of Victoria, which is in
Australia.
Kim Watty (01:35):
Yes, yes, excellent.
Nigel Rawlins (01:37):
So tell me, you were an academic, so what was
your study?
If you could tell us somethingabout that and something about
your academic career, becauseyou're now post-academic, so
tell us something about what youdid.
Kim Watty (01:52):
For the first.
I did an accounting degree andthen I went and worked as an
accountant for about 10 years.
Then I had children and Idecided that academia might
provide me with the flexibilityI was looking for, which was
really not right, but anywaythat's might provide me with the
flexibility I was looking for,which was really not right, but
anyway, that's what I thought atthe time.
So I went back into working inacademia just 0.2, 0.4 as the
(02:17):
children grew, 0.6 full-timethis is quite traditional way
for females in the academicenvironment in Australia and I
did my Master's in Accountingpart-time while I was working
and raising the children with myhusband, john, and I did my PhD
part-time, which I finishedabout 2005.
(02:37):
So I was definitely in adifferent stage of life to some
PhD candidates who come straightfrom one form of study to the
next.
But I was working, raising afamily and studied accounting.
I worked at RMIT University,the University of Melbourne, and
finished my career at DeakinUniversity, where I am currently
(02:57):
an emeritus professor, whichI'm very proud of.
For Deakin University, myteaching area was in management
accounting and I taughtundergraduate and postgraduate.
I taught in Singapore, hongKong, malaysia and Japan over
the years and towards the latter10 years of my academic career
(03:20):
I was involved in leadershiproles around deputy dean of the
Faculty of Business and Law atDeakin University and chairing a
number of academic boards andteaching and learning type
committees Less teaching in thelater part and more sort of
leadership roles.
And my research area, whichreally gave me an opportunity to
travel the world to be able topresent at research conferences,
(03:43):
which I was always verygrateful was in the area of
accounting education.
So it moved from graduateattributes, learning outcomes,
technology, ai and that type ofthing.
So that was my research area aspart of my academic role.
Nigel Rawlins (03:57):
So tell me what's an Emeritus Professor?
Kim Watty (04:00):
So an Emeritus Professor is a title that's
awarded to someone who has shownsignificant and sustained high
quality activities in research,teaching and in academic
leadership.
So it's a title that you canapply for when you retire from a
university and it goes to thecouncil and through the vice
(04:21):
chancellor for approval.
I'm very proud of that titleand it's something that I, and
through the vice-chancellor forapproval, I'm very proud of that
title and it's something that Ican use for ever and a day.
Nigel Rawlins (04:29):
Fantastic, that's wonderful to hear.
So did you have to retire, orwhat happened there?
Kim Watty (04:35):
Yeah, no, I didn't have to retire.
It was probably 2018, 2019.
My mum wasn't particularly well, so I wanted to care a bit more
for her.
She wasn't living with me, so Iwanted to care a bit more for
her.
She wasn't living with me, butI wanted to spend a bit more
time with her.
So I think it would have been18 and 19.
I moved out of the dean role andback into my discipline of
accounting in the school as aprofessor and I moved to three
(04:56):
days a week and I decided in2019.
I really thought there wassomething else that I wanted to
do outside of academia.
I I didn't really know what itwas, but I felt, yeah, there was
something more.
So I formally resigned in, orput in my resignation about
mid-2019, and I formally leftDeakin mid-2020 as COVID hit.
(05:22):
So COVID wasn't around when Idecided that I'd retire and my
husband, who is a wee bit olderthan me, we were going to do a
lot of traveling and lots ofthings together.
Covid hit two or three years,started doing some other work,
some courses and looking forother things, and found out
about 2023, 24, that the more Iwas looking for was actually
(05:43):
co-founding a business with mydaughter aimed at helping women
design their next best chapterwith intention and purpose.
So that's the company that mydaughter and I have been working
on in the last two years.
Nigel Rawlins (05:54):
Now, that's an interesting move from, say,
teaching accounting to yourbusiness, which is called the
Main Act.
But it's not about business, isit?
Kim Watty (06:03):
No, it's absolutely not.
It's about supporting women toactually live their next chapter
.
So my daughter had created acouple of businesses.
So for her, she's very much anentrepreneur and the decision to
do something together came overmany months of thinking and
different things that happenedin their lives.
So for someone who was aprofessor of accounting and is
(06:26):
an emeritus professor to now beco-founding a startup with their
daughter around supportingwomen to design their next and
best chapter is something Iwould never have imagined I'd do
.
But I think this may be themore that I was looking for.
When I retired from academia, Iclosed one door for a while for
the new door to open, but Ialways knew there was something
else I wanted to do, and I thinkthis might be it.
Nigel Rawlins (06:47):
Okay, so is that a feeling inside that you have
that's telling you this, is it?
Kim Watty (06:53):
It's absolutely a feeling inside.
Great question, and yes, it is.
Nigel Rawlins (06:56):
And I think that's the thing we have to
listen to.
One of the areas that I'mreally excited about is the
extended mind and listening tothat internal feeling that
you've got.
I think it's calledinteroception, and it does tell
you something, and if you canhear it or listen to it and act
on it, I think that's reallyimportant and that sounds like
(07:17):
what that was.
Okay, your daughter isentrepreneurial and you've both
decided to run a business.
How did your accountingbackground look at that idea?
Kim Watty (07:30):
My husband, who passed away very recently in
July last year, quite suddenly.
So that's been a very sad timefor my very close family.
But in 2023, when we startedtalking about the main act, john
, who was more of a practicingaccountant John would say those
that can do and those that can'tteach, which really was a bit
(07:51):
rude, but anyway, I took it onboard and John had also been
Prue's accountant for the otherbusiness that she ran, an events
company that she started in NewYork.
The answer is John did a lot ofthe groundwork around setting
up the company as a subsidiaryof my daughter's established
company and it's now fallen tome, but I'm really not that
interested in it.
So I've convinced my daughter,prue, that we should hire
(08:13):
someone to do the books becauseI'm not going back to that again
.
I did that for 10 years.
I worked, 30 years or 20 or 30years I taught.
I want to focus on the otherpart of the business, which is
the business development.
John set us up forever gratefuland we now have a small
business accountant who helps usout, but I do keep the records
(08:34):
in terms of income and expensespretty accurately, so that's a
help.
Nigel Rawlins (08:38):
Oh, I think some of the accounting programs
nowadays are just so fantastic.
So, using Xero or somethinglike that.
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
I've gone to a really small one, a small Melbourne-based one,
which I love.
It's about half the pricebecause I don't have any payroll
or anything like that, I don'tcollect GST and it's a little
(08:58):
ripper program.
Again, it does most of whatXero does.
So people are probablywondering what we're talking
about.
We're talking about onlineaccounting programs for a moment
anyway.
Obviously you understandbusiness, John your husband
obviously was very clear aboutthat.
So you must have some sense ofwhat's working and I don't know
(09:18):
how to describe this a sensethat what you're doing is worth
doing, but from a businessperspective as well.
Kim Watty (09:24):
Yeah, what we're doing is worth doing because it
feels right and, nigel, youtalked about that feeling.
But that feeling of we're inthe right place and what we're
doing is needed comes fromresearch that says, if you pop
in the browser retirement forwomen, nine out of the 10
references will be aroundfinances.
(09:45):
So there's a lot of informationout there about finances and,
though I'm an accountant, wegive absolutely no financial
advice whatsoever.
We leave that to the experts.
So it feels right.
The market tells us that there'snot a lot in the area and in
the manner that we're offeringit.
There has been a lot ofinterest.
I think by the time thispodcast is aired, I will have
(10:08):
done an interview with a womanon Radio National ABC who
contacted me and was veryinterested.
They're doing a series on thegood retirement.
She's very interested in whatwe're doing and my story.
We've done a couple of articlesin online journals or online
sorry, online magazines, sothere is interest there.
(10:28):
We've had a couple of otherpodcast requests.
So there's definitely interestfor our story and what we're
doing and we honestly believethere is a need for it.
We did a pilot program inJanuary which we ran and learned
a lot from.
We're starting our firstprogram in May next week,
actually May the 6th and we'regoing to learn a lot and love
working with women in that space.
We will be donating 8% of ourprofit to organisations that
(10:53):
support women.
But I can assure you, nigel,that is a fair way down the
track and we're not focusing onthe dollars.
Unfortunately, I'm in aposition where I don't have to,
and that is really important.
The other thing is it's not abig capital investment from
either of us.
It's our time, and it's aminimal investment for resources
(11:13):
and advertising and the like.
So I'm again quite privilegedto be in a position where we can
actually start this businessand see where it takes us.
Nigel Rawlins (11:21):
Now I think that's really quite important,
what you've just said.
There You've started off small.
It's an area that you're bothreally interested in.
There is a need for it, andyou've been able to connect to
the people who are searching forthat.
Now, obviously, not everybodycan do such a course as yours,
so let's start talking aboutthat.
(11:43):
What is it that you're actuallydoing?
Tell me about the business, thename and what it is you do.
Kim Watty (11:50):
The business is called the Main Act and, as a
mother-daughter co-founders,there was a lot of discussion
about what the business nameshould be.
I thought we'd never agree, butfortunately we have a very,
very strong relationship.
My daughter Prue and I, and wework very well together and
complement each other.
I think I'm more the businessside of things.
She's definitely more thecreative side of things.
(12:11):
But the business the main actis set up as business, a space
where women can come together towork through transitions in
their lives, and the firsttransition we're working on is
retirement.
The next transition might beretirement and another cohort
that looks at transitioning tosolo living or transitioning to
(12:32):
empty nesting or transitioningto a new career.
But we decided to useretirement because that's what
I'm living at the moment and Ifeel quite authentic in talking
about what I'm doing inretirement to help guide other
women in their retirement.
So the main act is the business,and the program that we can
talk about is the Retirement byDesign program.
(12:53):
It's an eight-week programwhich is founded on the work of
Evans and Burnett from theStanford Business School.
So they have a very strongresearch, evidence-based
methodology which they have usedover a number of years.
So we are looking at that,tweaking it to the Australian
environment, changing it to fitretirement particularly.
(13:15):
But their life design course,which I have undertaken, is
really the foundation for theRetirement by Design program, an
eight-week online program, atthe moment one hour a week.
Weeks one, three, five and sevenare all about content, and
weeks two, four, six and eightis where the group comes
(13:36):
together to integrate andreflect on what they've learned
in the previous week and howthat's impacted their life and
how they're using the tools andtechniques along the way that
are based on life design.
Also, every second week weekstwo, four, six and eight Prue
and I offer a one-on-oneaccountability call to the women
, so just to have a one-on-oneconversation to see how they're
(13:58):
going.
So it's very high touch, veryhands-on, and that to us is very
important.
That's the model we have at themoment.
The other thing we're currentlyoffering at the main act is
one-on-one coaching.
So I've done a lot of coachingcourses over the years and my
daughter, prue's just done avery I want to say the ICF
coaching program and I shouldknow it but I don't.
So we also offer one-on-onecoaching which is separate to
(14:20):
the Retirement by Designeight-week signature program.
Nigel Rawlins (14:23):
So what you're telling me is, instead of
retiring and going playing golfor just hanging out down the
beach or the cafes, you'reputting a lot of time into
helping other women come toterms with retirement, into
helping other women come toterms with retirement, and look,
you mentioned before you don'treally need the money, which is
(14:44):
helpful, I think, when you'restarting out, because this is
one of the biggest issues for,say, for people who've retired
or women who've retired, ishaving enough capital to get
started with something.
What have you found?
Obviously, you've got a designprocess there.
What did you change from yourJanuary cohort that you did as a
trial and now this is theformal one?
(15:07):
Is there much difference fromthat?
Kim Watty (15:10):
I think the main difference was really adding in
the accountability call.
Because in the trial program wefelt that it was too easy
there's no homework but thereare prompts to do something
between each week.
And it was just too easy forthe pilot program people to
attend the content weeks andthen all of a sudden, the next
(15:32):
two weeks was upon them and notmuch had happened and we didn't
want to call it a coaching call,we wanted to call it an
accountability call.
So that's a strong word andit's not meant to be, but in
some ways it's appropriate.
So it's saying have you filledin your journal, have you done
your reflection?
And we're not saying every dayyou do this, it's just have you
thought about what we talkedabout in the content week and
(15:55):
how it might impact your life?
Because, to be honest, nigel,people are paying for the
program.
We want them to get a lot outof it.
We believe in the program.
So we can't guarantee successunless people engage with us and
that's really important.
So we actually interview thepeople to come into this very
small course to ensure, as bestwe can, that the characteristics
(16:16):
of the women that areparticipating align with these
really important mindsets ofbeing curious and biased to
action and reframing problemsand trying things.
It's really very importantbecause some people may think
that you enroll in a course andyour life design is fulfilled
after eight weeks and life justisn't like that.
Nigel Rawlins (16:36):
A couple of things I really liked hearing
about how you design that courseis where you've got some formal
training and discussion andthen you've got the group coming
back to discuss with each other.
So what you've got is asupportive cohort that gets to
possibly relate to each other,which is very important.
One of the biggest problems Isee out there and I think it's
(16:57):
very evident now is a lot ofonline courses people don't
finish and I think it's veryevident now is a lot of online
courses people don't finish, andI think I saw something on X
this morning about in Australia.
We have our technical trainingcourses.
Only 13% of people finish aTAFE course.
We're talking about the factthat some people do not finish
(17:17):
courses that they start.
Now I've paid for a whole lotof courses that I think sound
really good, but I haven't evenstarted them, and I paid for
them two years ago.
Eventually I may get around toit.
And then I see another courseand I buy that one too.
Kim Watty (17:29):
Yes, shiny, things.
Nigel Rawlins (17:31):
But the thing is you're keeping it nice and short
eight weeks focused and so Ithink that's got a better chance
of working, hasn't it?
It'll be exciting to see howthis cohort finishes and where
they go.
So the other thing you'vementioned there is that you're
quite careful about who youinvite to the program.
Was that a specific reasonthere?
Kim Watty (17:51):
yes, because it is a small cohort and we really want
women who are going to be, ofcourse, respectful and most
people are respectful but also,as I said, those really key
mindsets for life design aroundbeing curious, open to failure,
willing to participate, ie biasto action, not inaction.
(18:13):
Reframing problems.
It's too late.
I'm already set in my ways.
No, it's never too late.
The future is what you createit to be.
So it's always difficult to sayno to people, but it is worse if
you have a small group ofpeople and don't have a similar
curiosity, because we don't wanteveryone thinking the same,
because the challenge with womenis always where there is great
(18:35):
debate and interest andchallenge and that type of thing
.
So we really believe in thepower of women coming together
in a thoughtful manner and thepower of that particular group.
And that group can beundermined really quickly if
there are one or two people thatjust don't have a similar
approach to the eight-weekprogram.
So again, it's not easy to sayno to people and we do it very
(18:57):
rarely, but we absolutely have adiscovery call with every
person who participates becausewe want to ensure that alignment
of thought.
Nigel Rawlins (19:06):
That's very important.
What was I going to say?
I had something in my mind.
Oh, I was going to say so.
Where are these women based?
Are they Australian?
Kim Watty (19:17):
At the moment they're Melbourne based because we are
trying to have a couple ofcatch-ups.
So we thought with this cohortwe would make them all Melbourne
based.
It's online but we will have acouple of face-to-face
opportunities for the group,which we think is really
important.
But, nigel, again, in a smallbusiness that's starting, you
also limit your reach if youmake it just Melbourne and most
(19:39):
of it is going to be online.
And, to be quite frank, if weare as successful as we'd like
to be in helping women, there'snothing to stop us going more
global.
That's just the way of theworld and what technology allows
us to do.
But we still want to just keepcontrol of what's going on at
the moment.
At the moment it'sMelbourne-based women, mainly
(20:00):
aged between, say, 45 and 65, 70.
But we have someone on ourwaiting list for July who is 78
and said to me Kim, it's not forme.
I'm pretty settled and I saidyou could have another 20 years
to go.
Do you want to think aboutplanning what the next 20 years
might be like with moreintention and more purpose?
So that's the cohort.
(20:21):
At the moment I think it'sroughly 45 to 68, a few people,
and there are peoplecontemplating planning and just
retired at the moment.
They're the group and we wantto mix it up.
We don't want to have justeveryone who's been retired for
10 years or everyone that's 10years out from retirement.
But I was reading something.
It's a great quote and I'm notgoing to be able to remember it
exactly.
But I was reading something.
(20:41):
It's a great quote.
I'm not going to be able toremember it exactly, but it was
something like when is the besttime to start planning for your
future?
And, of course, the best timeis right now, and it doesn't
matter whether you're 20, 30, 50or 100, it's right now that's
really a wise thing.
Nigel Rawlins (20:54):
I keep thinking now that I'm I'm 69 and I'm
thinking but I'm 69 and I'mthinking, wow, if you're 40 and
you're contemplating your future, because one of the big issues
is relationships in your network.
I noticed that when I firstquit teaching over 25 years ago,
(21:14):
there was a person I knew whohad retired in business and he'd
lost contact with all hisbusiness people and then they
retired as well.
And that's the biggest danger,I think, is, if you decide you
want to do something when you'reolder and you've let your
network go you and they're notdifferent ages and they've all
(21:38):
retired all you can do is catchup for coffee, but it's not that
helpful.
Kim Watty (21:44):
No, there's research out there, of course, that talks
about the importance ofmaintaining community and social
networks in some way, and theresearch we looked at said 60%
of women didn't plan for theirretirement and they regret not
planning for it.
But again, I just want toreiterate and we talk about this
in the course that thedefinition of retirement, of
(22:04):
stepping back, isolation, thosetypes of words just doesn't fit
with the sort of women thatwe're dealing with.
They want to do differentthings.
It mightn't be a 50-hour weekand you're paid at X, y, z, it
doesn't really matter.
But if you can unhookremuneration from your work and
not feel locked into thatidentity, it actually opens up
(22:27):
the thought that work can becreative work, it can be some
paid work, it can be volunteerwork, it can be board work, it
can be community, it can becaring for your family, it can
be caring for your friend's dog,it can be whatever you choose
it to be.
And for me, that's the beautyof this stage of my life where I
have more control about thethings I want to do.
(22:47):
And we talked before about andI thought it was a great
question about how do you feelabout this new business that
you're creating and I said itjust feels right.
You know, that sense of askingwomen to think about what brings
them joy can be quitechallenging because they haven't
actually really thought aboutthat in that way.
What brings you joy, paddy play, those sorts of questions are
(23:10):
really helpful.
Yeah, I was reading a bookaround Ikigai, which is the
Japanese philosophy of life, andyou know, retirement is not a
word in the language in Japanbecause people go on and they
live.
There's a lot of blue zones inJapan and they live a long life
and retirement is not somethingthat is in their discourse.
And as people get to differentstages of their life, they do
(23:33):
less paid work but theyabsolutely have a lot of
community.
They work in community,exercise, mild exercise, none of
this h-i-i-t or killingyourself.
There's mild exercise, lots ofwalking, etc.
It's quite interesting to thinkthis word retirement has such
negative connotations in our Iwould say in the western world,
(23:54):
and that's a generalization, butI feel comfortable saying it
that people sometimes get avisceral reaction when they have
to say I'm retired.
Because I think people aregoing to ask that question,
which is what do you do all day,exactly, with that rising
intonation?
What do you do all day?
Nigel Rawlins (24:12):
That's the thing that's just popped into my head.
I was thinking if you weren'tinvolved in the main act, what
would you be doing?
Kim Watty (24:18):
Okay, so I did the Australian Institute of Company
Directors program and I was onabout four or five boards.
A lot of work doing a lot ofboard work.
It wasn't that more I waslooking for.
As I said, I retired fromfull-time work thinking there
was more, and then what would Ibe doing?
I don't know.
(24:38):
I'm now on three boards andthey're mainly education related
, which I do enjoy.
That's my board work.
I love exercising most of thetime and my swimming, and had
John still been with me, wewould have done a lot more
travel.
We had traveled a lot in thelast decade or so and we
probably would have continuedthat.
(24:59):
So I don't think I'm able toanswer that question.
I just don't know.
I would find something, butwhat I'm doing now just feels so
right.
Nigel Rawlins (25:08):
Yes, you can see the motivation in you.
You look like a young person,and I think that's the energy
that comes from doing somethingthat feels right and that you've
got the support for doing it.
So working with your daughter,that must be wonderful too.
Kim Watty (25:24):
It is.
It was interesting.
We were speaking to someoneelse who asked the question how
do you work together?
And my daughter had said thequestion was coming up and she's
very thoughtful.
And she said, mum, I mightmention about that feedback.
And she's right, because I tellher one of my many failings in
life is around feedback.
I don't think I receive it welland I'm very conscious of it.
So she said to me, working withmum, sometimes I can give mum
(25:48):
feedback and she doesn't alwaystake it on board and gets
defensive.
And I said to Prue, that'squite right.
Working with you, you also verymuch think everything that you
say is correct.
So we have a number ofconversations around some of the
wording or some of thedocuments that we want to share
with people, and sometimes itgets a bit quiet, but we are
(26:10):
very good at bouncing back andsaying we'll leave that for now,
let's get on to the next bit.
So I think there's a mutualrespect and I'm very cognizant
of her creative abilities andshe's aware of my abilities,
having been in education for 30years of constructing courses
and developing things forparticipants.
It's working well.
(26:30):
It's been nearly 18 months, twoyears, and we're still doing it
and I feel quite privileged tobe able to work with her.
It's a good dynamic also, nigel, because cross-generational
thinking, cross-generationallearning, is really important.
So I see things differently toPrue and it's really interesting
to share that with people.
(26:50):
I quite like that.
I think that's a really strongpart of the main act that we
respect difference and we'realso able to contribute from
different generations about howwe've dealt with different
challenges in our lives.
Nigel Rawlins (27:02):
Let's say, the other interesting thing I see
there too, is from 18 months ago.
You're not the same person andthe learning that's occurred, so
tell us something about that.
Kim Watty (27:13):
That is interesting.
I'm not the same person, sotell us something about that.
That is interesting.
I'm not the same person.
I suppose I'm not.
I think of my characteristics.
I am a lifelong learner.
I've always enjoyed learning.
I generally have a positiveattitude and a pretty high
energy, which is genuine energy.
I can also acknowledge thatthings aren't always tickety-boo
(27:33):
and you have to deal withlife's complexities.
I'm not really sure how I'mdifferent.
I'm definitely more aware ofstart-up businesses and the
challenges.
When I'm starting to get a bitconcerned about something, prue
is very much able to say justhold your nerve, mum, it'll come
through.
Before every major breakthroughand I know this, I've read it
before every major breakthroughis that feeling of that visible
(27:55):
feeling of my gosh, what are wedoing?
I must say, given herexperience in founding
businesses prior to this one,that's been absolutely fantastic
.
So I'm not sure how I'mdifferent.
I might have to take that oneon board.
Nigel Rawlins (28:07):
I was thinking what are things?
Have you had to learn that youdidn't use when you were at the
university?
Kim Watty (28:14):
Well, I think the different sorts of things I'm
reading.
So I'm not reading accountingjournals.
I am reading literature aroundthe 5am club, Ikigai,
mindfulness, journaling,trusting your vision, working
with women.
So I'm looking at a wholedifferent body of literature
than I was five years or threeyears ago.
(28:36):
So that's absolutely true, I'mdefinitely more thoughtful in
terms of how I'm living my life.
That's very different.
I do journal now not as oftenas I'd like, but I'm much better
.
I do meditate, I do yoga.
I wouldn't have done any ofthose things five years ago.
So there is a difference.
Yeah, I swim now, which Ihadn't done previously.
(28:59):
So it's a different kind ofgenre of things that I'm looking
at than I was when I wasworking in academia.
Nigel Rawlins (29:06):
Yeah, you are a different person.
Yeah, yeah, I've been inbusiness now, running this
marketing services company, for25 years.
I find reading anything aboutbusiness really boring.
Yeah, good, anything of it.
Look, I do read some marketingbooks and I'm thinking, nah,
that's just repeating the sameold crap and same with a lot of
(29:27):
strategy, except for PeterCompo's book, which I really
love, and I spoke to Peter Compoon the Wisepreneurs podcast
about strategy.
He doesn't like that word atall.
He talks about emergence andthings like that and aspiration
and bottlenecks.
It's a more practical way oflooking at stuff.
(29:48):
His was fantastic and reallyagain I get those internal
feelings, just like I have withthe Extended Mind.
Internal feelings just like Ihave with the Extended Mind
another author, luke P Boudain,that I've been reading about
cognitive productivity.
I'm 69 and getting reallyexcited about this stuff.
Yes, yes so what books havereally excited you the most?
(30:10):
You mentioned Ikagi.
Kim Watty (30:12):
Oh yes, robin Sharma's the 5am Club I really
enjoyed and I quite likelistening when I'm out and about
in the car.
So I'm currently listening tothe Wealth Money Can't Buy by
Robin Sharma and I'm almostfinished that.
I'm just looking there's threehours left.
It's probably been about eighthours.
Love that.
I'm up to 82 different thingsto think about in your life.
(30:34):
I do read a few novels everynow and again Helen Garner, but
I've read the book calledSuperfans.
I can't remember.
The author Did quite a bit ofreading around story brand and
brand script.
So, to be honest, when I gothrough that list, nigel, I have
absolutely changed 180, if not360 degrees in terms of the type
(30:55):
of reading that I now do.
Nigel Rawlins (30:57):
So a mix of fiction and some non-fiction.
Kim Watty (31:00):
Yeah, mainly non-fiction.
It's mainly related to fiction.
Sorry, fiction yeah.
Nigel Rawlins (31:04):
And are you reading on a Kindle or real
books?
Kim Watty (31:08):
I have mainly maybe 70% real books and 30% is my
audible when I'm walking.
I love that because I can putsomething on and if I actually
get into a state of flow, I whenI'm walking.
I love that because I can putsomething on and if I actually
get into a state of flow, I canjust keep walking and before I
know it I've walked for an hourand a half rather than 20
minutes.
But I'm absolutely committed tojust starting because I know
how important it is.
Don't really want to walk afterdinner.
(31:30):
Put on the shoes, headphones,get out the door.
If it's 20 minutes, it's 20minutes.
It's 20 minutes more than Iwould have done.
If it's an hour and 20 minutes,woo-hoo, I could have done.
I'm really happy with that.
I quite like Audible.
I know not everyone does.
I don't like Kindle, but yeah,I quite like Audible.
Nigel Rawlins (31:49):
And we should say that you're very lucky living
in Port Melbourne because you'vegot a beautiful beach walk that
goes for miles.
You can go all the way down toBrighton.
Kim Watty (31:54):
I think can't you, absolutely you can, Very nice
yeah.
Nigel Rawlins (32:00):
One thing I've had to do lately is when I go
for my walks is not listen tosomething.
Actually listen to my feettapping on the ground or the
birds or the wind.
I live on a bay but I have towalk on roads and along a
clifftop and a bit, but it'sstill lovely.
I love seeing the water.
But it's still lovely.
I love seeing the water, butI've had to stop myself
listening to podcasts all thetime.
Kim Watty (32:18):
I love that.
I love that because I have feltthe same and the last six
months I walk for my morningcoffee.
I've got a great coffee shopthat thank goodness opens at 6am
, which is just fabulous for thecommunity, and I absolutely do
not have anything in my ears forthat morning walk, and what a
(32:38):
difference that makes.
It's amazing.
So I the audible is usually theevening walk.
That can get be from any timebetween four and six.
I'll head out, particularly asI live a solo life now so I can
eat when I choose to and walkwhen I choose to.
But my morning walk is allabout nature, the birds, the
smell of the ocean and my veryfavourite coffee in the morning,
(33:00):
which is worth walking for.
Nigel Rawlins (33:03):
Surprisingly, we have a coffee shop near me.
So I'm in a little country townright down the end of a long
road near the bay, and justaround the corner from us we
have a little coffee shop.
Kim Watty (33:18):
Somebody from Bunswick moved down here and set
up a little coffee shop andwe've got a beautiful gelato
shop.
Nigel Rawlins (33:23):
Now anyone who wants to come to there has to
drive quite a while a while toget there.
Obviously the locals nearbywill go to.
It seem to have a lot ofhousing near here.
But yes, having a good coffeeshop, but gee, having a gelato
shop is really good too.
Agreed.
So coffee is very important,and the funny thing is I talked
to him because I was in Japanabout a month or so ago and I
(33:47):
had the most fantastic coffee ina little Japanese cafe
somewhere and I think he made itwith a drip system.
So I told my local guy and hesaid, oh, I'll make you a drip
coffee.
And it was fantastic.
And I was in there the otherday and I noticed he's got the
same drip machine that I've got.
Kim Watty (34:07):
You'd save yourself $6 every morning.
Nigel Rawlins (34:08):
Yes, I thought oh , bugger that.
Yeah, it's crazy.
All right, Okay, retirement bydesign.
It's crazy, all right, okay,retirement by design.
What advice do you give towomen about retiring, and when?
When should you start thinkingabout it?
Kim Watty (34:31):
Yeah, I think we chatted briefly before we
started taping about 62% ofwomen wish they'd planned for
retirement, so they felt a bitlost and a bit fearful of what
retirement might hold.
And there was another statisticthat said one in two wish that
they had planned earlier fortheir retirement.
When is retirement?
Whenever it suits you, becauseretirement isn't about finishing
work, it's about taking morecontrol of the different
activities that make up yourlife.
And I think there does come atime where, financially, you
(34:55):
have a, if you're fortunateenough.
There does come a time where,financially, you have a, if
you're fortunate enough, therecan come a time where,
financially, you do have alittle bit of flexibility in
terms of how you fill your days.
It doesn't have to beremunerated and, yeah, I think
that's very important.
So what we say to women isdifficult to say in a few
sentences, but I think thefundamentals are that now it's
(35:16):
your time to take control ofwhat your next chapter might
look like.
And it doesn't mean that thelast 40, 50 years haven't been
interesting and fulfilling, butit just means that you have the
opportunity to take more controlof what the next 10 years, 15
years, might look like.
And that control comes fromthinking differently and
designing the next stage years15 years might look like.
(35:37):
And that control comes fromthinking differently and
designing the next stage of yourlife with that intention and
purpose, which is really veryimportant, because you don't
come out of the eight-weekprogram with your life designed
for the next 20 years.
You come out of it.
We actually do three odysseyplannings at the end of the
program.
So we odyssey plan for threedifferent lives and you can look
at how life might look with noconstraints, full constraints,
(36:00):
strengths and medium constraints.
So after the eight weeks youcome out with a better way of
thinking about life andunderstanding a bit more about
yourself.
And we will do some odysseyplanning and you will come out
with a design that you thinkcould work for you.
And then in a few months timeyou go back and have another
look and you add to it and youchange it and you say this
worked or it didn't work.
But I think it's giving womenthe confidence and tools the
(36:23):
tools to be able to do this sortof work, but also the
confidence in themselves whichsome women don't always have.
Some people have said to me Idon't think I could do that
eight-week course I say mygoodness, you're a curious,
you're intelligent.
Why on earth would you thinkthat?
Oh, it sounds like it's out ofStanford.
I said absolutely not, you're asmart woman.
So it gives them the tools tobe able to review their life as
(36:47):
they move through it.
And again, people who thinkthat after eight weeks your life
design is completed aren'tbeing realistic, because life
throws up lots of unexpectedchallenges along the way and
opportunities.
We're very positive too.
We look for the greatopportunities.
Nigel Rawlins (37:03):
You mentioned a word there confidence, and I
must admit, I've heard that andit scares me when I hear highly
intelligent women say to meyou've given me the confidence,
and I'm thinking I'm some dumbbloke, I'm not as smart as you,
but they will tell me that Ihelped them with some confidence
(37:24):
, just like it's.
Very obviously you're going tobe very supportive and give them
the confidence they need.
But why do women say that theylack the confidence when you
know?
You look at their lives andwhat they've done and you think
unbelievable.
I never did half of that.
Kim Watty (37:43):
Yeah, I think it's embedded in our social
structures and the way thebusiness world works, and I
think it is changing.
But women remain in the serviceindustries, in education, in
social services, in child mining, etc.
There is structural variationbetween the genders, there's no
question about that.
There are more men on boardsthan there are women and there
(38:05):
are more men in the top 100income earners than there are
women, and that's no reason thatshould happen, other than the
opportunities that they've beenable to enjoy along the way.
So there's structuraldifference that I think keeping
women in their place is toostrong, because I certainly
think that there is opportunityfor women to move in any
(38:25):
direction they choose.
But I do think there isstructural differences in
context, in the environment andcertainly in business, where
women are not necessarilyencouraged to recognise their
own abilities and to actuallymove forward, move up, put
themselves forward.
There's evidence to suggestthat.
So I agree with you.
When this woman said I'm notsure I have the confidence, I
(38:47):
was absolutely shocked and Isaid don't do the program.
If you choose not to, that'syour call, but please don't do
it because you think you don'thave the ability to do it.
And I said, my goodness youcould contribute so wisely to
the conversation.
Nigel Rawlins (38:59):
That's it, Wisely can contribute, because that's
what age brings us that wisdom.
We call it crystallisedintelligence, that deep, with a
lot of tacit knowledge therethat we don't always recognise
what we know.
Okay, so tell me about the mainact and how people can find out
(39:22):
more about you, where they maybe able to read something about
the main act and you know thenext cohort that's coming up,
because obviously this one's Yep.
Kim Watty (39:32):
So our website is wwwthemainactcomau.
We have an Instagram page thatyou can find us.
The website, I think, is theone to go to.
I will be posting on thewebsite references to the couple
of articles that we've hadpublished and also I will be
putting a link on next week tothe interview that I did with
(39:53):
Tegan Taylor on the ABC RadioNational.
So I think our website isprobably the place to go.
The website also talks aboutour contact details.
So Prue and myself and I'd bevery happy for anyone to drop me
an email I'm just kim at themain act, although casecomau and
Prue is similar, but I'd behappy to hear from everyone,
(40:16):
from anyone.
So we have our autumn cohort,which is starting on May the 6th
, and then in July we will startour winter cohort and the
intention is to have a springcohort also.
And, nigel, we might thinkabout reviewing some of the
structure based on this, becausewe've had had, I must say, a
(40:36):
number of people who said we'dlove to do it, but I'm off
travelling to far-flung placesand I can't commit to eight
weeks.
So we actually are thinking ofhow we can possibly repackage it
so that eight-week weeklycommitment isn't necessary and
while we do record the sessionsfor those who are part of the
(40:56):
group who can't make it.
People like to be involved andwe want them to be involved too.
So at the moment it's eightweeks.
We may continue that withwinter.
We may chunk it into fourtwo-week parcels, to be decided,
but we want to respond to themarket consistently and
continuously along the way.
Nigel Rawlins (41:14):
That's all part of that learning.
You didn't mention LinkedIn.
You're on LinkedIn, aren't you?
Kim Watty (41:18):
Oh, I am on LinkedIn and so is the main act.
So I'm on LinkedIn, Kim Wattie,and the main act is also on
LinkedIn.
Nigel Rawlins (41:24):
yes, that's great .
Now, is there anything wehaven't covered just yet that
you'd like to talk about?
Kim Watty (41:30):
No, I think we've covered lots.
Nigel, we have, I think it'sbeen a really interesting
conversation, so there's nothingextra that I'd like to add.
I really enjoyed the questionsthat you asked.
Some of them I'll go away andthink about too.
Nigel Rawlins (41:40):
Thank you, Kim, for joining us.
That's been a wonderfulconversation.
Kim Watty (41:44):
Thank you, nigel, it's been my pleasure.
Welcome to episode 68 of the Wisepreneurs
podcast.
Today I'm thrilled to chat withKim Wattie, a 66-year-old
emeritus professor of accountingturned entrepreneur.
After a distinguished academiccareer, kim co-founded the Main
Act with her daughter Prue tohelp women design purposeful
retirements.
Join us for an inspiring storyof reinvention and community.
(00:23):
Kim, welcome to theWisepreneurs podcast.
Could you tell us somethingabout yourself and where you're
from?
Kim Watty (00:31):
Yeah, I'm a 66-year-old semi-retired woman.
I live down by the bay and loveto be in the bay each morning.
I'm a mum of two adult childrenand I am fortunate enough to be
very close to my family andcurrently working with my
daughter on a project which wehope we'll talk about a bit
(00:53):
later on.
We will.
Nigel Rawlins (00:55):
So which bay are you talking about?
Kim Watty (00:58):
Oh, port Melbourne.
So I swim in the bay eachmorning with the Port Melbourne
Icebergers.
I don't swim too far.
About a kilometre is my limit.
But this is not a competitionfor me.
I've had enough of that in myother stages of my life.
But we swim probably swim sixof seven days rain, hail and
shine, cold and hot, and I'mvery proud.
(01:19):
I don't have a wetsuit, so Ijust get in there and swim.
Nigel Rawlins (01:22):
In winter as well .
Kim Watty (01:23):
In winter as well.
Nigel Rawlins (01:24):
Without a wetsuit .
So I just get in there and swimIn winter as well.
Kim Watty (01:26):
In winter as well, without a wetsuit.
It's fantastic, the endorphinsgo through the roof, yeah they
would Now for the non-Australianlisteners.
Nigel Rawlins (01:31):
Melbourne is the capital of Victoria, which is in
Australia.
Kim Watty (01:35):
Yes, yes, excellent.
Nigel Rawlins (01:37):
So tell me, you were an academic, so what was
your study?
If you could tell us somethingabout that and something about
your academic career, becauseyou're now post-academic, so
tell us something about what youdid.
Kim Watty (01:52):
For the first.
I did an accounting degree andthen I went and worked as an
accountant for about 10 years.
Then I had children and Idecided that academia might
provide me with the flexibilityI was looking for, which was
really not right, but anywaythat's might provide me with the
flexibility I was looking for,which was really not right, but
anyway, that's what I thought atthe time.
So I went back into working inacademia just 0.2, 0.4 as the
(02:17):
children grew, 0.6 full-timethis is quite traditional way
for females in the academicenvironment in Australia and I
did my Master's in Accountingpart-time while I was working
and raising the children with myhusband, john, and I did my PhD
part-time, which I finishedabout 2005.
(02:37):
So I was definitely in adifferent stage of life to some
PhD candidates who come straightfrom one form of study to the
next.
But I was working, raising afamily and studied accounting.
I worked at RMIT University,the University of Melbourne, and
finished my career at DeakinUniversity, where I am currently
(02:57):
an emeritus professor, whichI'm very proud of.
For Deakin University, myteaching area was in management
accounting and I taughtundergraduate and postgraduate.
I taught in Singapore, hongKong, malaysia and Japan over
the years and towards the latter10 years of my academic career
(03:20):
I was involved in leadershiproles around deputy dean of the
Faculty of Business and Law atDeakin University and chairing a
number of academic boards andteaching and learning type
committees Less teaching in thelater part and more sort of
leadership roles.
And my research area, whichreally gave me an opportunity to
travel the world to be able topresent at research conferences,
(03:43):
which I was always verygrateful was in the area of
accounting education.
So it moved from graduateattributes, learning outcomes,
technology, ai and that type ofthing.
So that was my research area aspart of my academic role.
Nigel Rawlins (03:57):
So tell me what's an Emeritus Professor?
Kim Watty (04:00):
So an Emeritus Professor is a title that's
awarded to someone who has shownsignificant and sustained high
quality activities in research,teaching and in academic
leadership.
So it's a title that you canapply for when you retire from a
university and it goes to thecouncil and through the vice
(04:21):
chancellor for approval.
I'm very proud of that titleand it's something that I, and
through the vice-chancellor forapproval, I'm very proud of that
title and it's something that Ican use for ever and a day.
Nigel Rawlins (04:29):
Fantastic, that's wonderful to hear.
So did you have to retire, orwhat happened there?
Kim Watty (04:35):
Yeah, no, I didn't have to retire.
It was probably 2018, 2019.
My mum wasn't particularly well, so I wanted to care a bit more
for her.
She wasn't living with me, so Iwanted to care a bit more for
her.
She wasn't living with me, butI wanted to spend a bit more
time with her.
So I think it would have been18 and 19.
I moved out of the dean role andback into my discipline of
accounting in the school as aprofessor and I moved to three
(04:56):
days a week and I decided in2019.
I really thought there wassomething else that I wanted to
do outside of academia.
I I didn't really know what itwas, but I felt, yeah, there was
something more.
So I formally resigned in, orput in my resignation about
mid-2019, and I formally leftDeakin mid-2020 as COVID hit.
(05:22):
So COVID wasn't around when Idecided that I'd retire and my
husband, who is a wee bit olderthan me, we were going to do a
lot of traveling and lots ofthings together.
Covid hit two or three years,started doing some other work,
some courses and looking forother things, and found out
about 2023, 24, that the more Iwas looking for was actually
(05:43):
co-founding a business with mydaughter aimed at helping women
design their next best chapterwith intention and purpose.
So that's the company that mydaughter and I have been working
on in the last two years.
Nigel Rawlins (05:54):
Now, that's an interesting move from, say,
teaching accounting to yourbusiness, which is called the
Main Act.
But it's not about business, isit?
Kim Watty (06:03):
No, it's absolutely not.
It's about supporting women toactually live their next chapter
.
So my daughter had created acouple of businesses.
So for her, she's very much anentrepreneur and the decision to
do something together came overmany months of thinking and
different things that happenedin their lives.
So for someone who was aprofessor of accounting and is
(06:26):
an emeritus professor to now beco-founding a startup with their
daughter around supportingwomen to design their next and
best chapter is something Iwould never have imagined I'd do
.
But I think this may be themore that I was looking for.
When I retired from academia, Iclosed one door for a while for
the new door to open, but Ialways knew there was something
else I wanted to do, and I thinkthis might be it.
Nigel Rawlins (06:47):
Okay, so is that a feeling inside that you have
that's telling you this, is it?
Kim Watty (06:53):
It's absolutely a feeling inside.
Great question, and yes, it is.
Nigel Rawlins (06:56):
And I think that's the thing we have to
listen to.
One of the areas that I'mreally excited about is the
extended mind and listening tothat internal feeling that
you've got.
I think it's calledinteroception, and it does tell
you something, and if you canhear it or listen to it and act
on it, I think that's reallyimportant and that sounds like
(07:17):
what that was.
Okay, your daughter isentrepreneurial and you've both
decided to run a business.
How did your accountingbackground look at that idea?
Kim Watty (07:30):
My husband, who passed away very recently in
July last year, quite suddenly.
So that's been a very sad timefor my very close family.
But in 2023, when we startedtalking about the main act, john
, who was more of a practicingaccountant John would say those
that can do and those that can'tteach, which really was a bit
(07:51):
rude, but anyway, I took it onboard and John had also been
Prue's accountant for the otherbusiness that she ran, an events
company that she started in NewYork.
The answer is John did a lot ofthe groundwork around setting
up the company as a subsidiaryof my daughter's established
company and it's now fallen tome, but I'm really not that
interested in it.
So I've convinced my daughter,prue, that we should hire
(08:13):
someone to do the books becauseI'm not going back to that again
.
I did that for 10 years.
I worked, 30 years or 20 or 30years I taught.
I want to focus on the otherpart of the business, which is
the business development.
John set us up forever gratefuland we now have a small
business accountant who helps usout, but I do keep the records
(08:34):
in terms of income and expensespretty accurately, so that's a
help.
Nigel Rawlins (08:38):
Oh, I think some of the accounting programs
nowadays are just so fantastic.
So, using Xero or somethinglike that.
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
I've gone to a really small one, a small Melbourne-based one,
which I love.
It's about half the pricebecause I don't have any payroll
or anything like that, I don'tcollect GST and it's a little
(08:58):
ripper program.
Again, it does most of whatXero does.
So people are probablywondering what we're talking
about.
We're talking about onlineaccounting programs for a moment
anyway.
Obviously you understandbusiness, John your husband
obviously was very clear aboutthat.
So you must have some sense ofwhat's working and I don't know
(09:18):
how to describe this a sensethat what you're doing is worth
doing, but from a businessperspective as well.
Kim Watty (09:24):
Yeah, what we're doing is worth doing because it
feels right and, nigel, youtalked about that feeling.
But that feeling of we're inthe right place and what we're
doing is needed comes fromresearch that says, if you pop
in the browser retirement forwomen, nine out of the 10
references will be aroundfinances.
(09:45):
So there's a lot of informationout there about finances and,
though I'm an accountant, wegive absolutely no financial
advice whatsoever.
We leave that to the experts.
So it feels right.
The market tells us that there'snot a lot in the area and in
the manner that we're offeringit.
There has been a lot ofinterest.
I think by the time thispodcast is aired, I will have
(10:08):
done an interview with a womanon Radio National ABC who
contacted me and was veryinterested.
They're doing a series on thegood retirement.
She's very interested in whatwe're doing and my story.
We've done a couple of articlesin online journals or online
sorry, online magazines, sothere is interest there.
(10:28):
We've had a couple of otherpodcast requests.
So there's definitely interestfor our story and what we're
doing and we honestly believethere is a need for it.
We did a pilot program inJanuary which we ran and learned
a lot from.
We're starting our firstprogram in May next week,
actually May the 6th and we'regoing to learn a lot and love
working with women in that space.
We will be donating 8% of ourprofit to organisations that
(10:53):
support women.
But I can assure you, nigel,that is a fair way down the
track and we're not focusing onthe dollars.
Unfortunately, I'm in aposition where I don't have to,
and that is really important.
The other thing is it's not abig capital investment from
either of us.
It's our time, and it's aminimal investment for resources
(11:13):
and advertising and the like.
So I'm again quite privilegedto be in a position where we can
actually start this businessand see where it takes us.
Nigel Rawlins (11:21):
Now I think that's really quite important,
what you've just said.
There You've started off small.
It's an area that you're bothreally interested in.
There is a need for it, andyou've been able to connect to
the people who are searching forthat.
Now, obviously, not everybodycan do such a course as yours,
so let's start talking aboutthat.
(11:43):
What is it that you're actuallydoing?
Tell me about the business, thename and what it is you do.
Kim Watty (11:50):
The business is called the Main Act and, as a
mother-daughter co-founders,there was a lot of discussion
about what the business nameshould be.
I thought we'd never agree, butfortunately we have a very,
very strong relationship.
My daughter Prue and I, and wework very well together and
complement each other.
I think I'm more the businessside of things.
She's definitely more thecreative side of things.
(12:11):
But the business the main actis set up as business, a space
where women can come together towork through transitions in
their lives, and the firsttransition we're working on is
retirement.
The next transition might beretirement and another cohort
that looks at transitioning tosolo living or transitioning to
(12:32):
empty nesting or transitioningto a new career.
But we decided to useretirement because that's what
I'm living at the moment and Ifeel quite authentic in talking
about what I'm doing inretirement to help guide other
women in their retirement.
So the main act is the business,and the program that we can
talk about is the Retirement byDesign program.
(12:53):
It's an eight-week programwhich is founded on the work of
Evans and Burnett from theStanford Business School.
So they have a very strongresearch, evidence-based
methodology which they have usedover a number of years.
So we are looking at that,tweaking it to the Australian
environment, changing it to fitretirement particularly.
(13:15):
But their life design course,which I have undertaken, is
really the foundation for theRetirement by Design program, an
eight-week online program, atthe moment one hour a week.
Weeks one, three, five and sevenare all about content, and
weeks two, four, six and eightis where the group comes
(13:36):
together to integrate andreflect on what they've learned
in the previous week and howthat's impacted their life and
how they're using the tools andtechniques along the way that
are based on life design.
Also, every second week weekstwo, four, six and eight Prue
and I offer a one-on-oneaccountability call to the women
, so just to have a one-on-oneconversation to see how they're
(13:58):
going.
So it's very high touch, veryhands-on, and that to us is very
important.
That's the model we have at themoment.
The other thing we're currentlyoffering at the main act is
one-on-one coaching.
So I've done a lot of coachingcourses over the years and my
daughter, prue's just done avery I want to say the ICF
coaching program and I shouldknow it but I don't.
So we also offer one-on-onecoaching which is separate to
(14:20):
the Retirement by Designeight-week signature program.
Nigel Rawlins (14:23):
So what you're telling me is, instead of
retiring and going playing golfor just hanging out down the
beach or the cafes, you'reputting a lot of time into
helping other women come toterms with retirement, into
helping other women come toterms with retirement, and look,
you mentioned before you don'treally need the money, which is
(14:44):
helpful, I think, when you'restarting out, because this is
one of the biggest issues for,say, for people who've retired
or women who've retired, ishaving enough capital to get
started with something.
What have you found?
Obviously, you've got a designprocess there.
What did you change from yourJanuary cohort that you did as a
trial and now this is theformal one?
(15:07):
Is there much difference fromthat?
Kim Watty (15:10):
I think the main difference was really adding in
the accountability call.
Because in the trial program wefelt that it was too easy
there's no homework but thereare prompts to do something
between each week.
And it was just too easy forthe pilot program people to
attend the content weeks andthen all of a sudden, the next
(15:32):
two weeks was upon them and notmuch had happened and we didn't
want to call it a coaching call,we wanted to call it an
accountability call.
So that's a strong word andit's not meant to be, but in
some ways it's appropriate.
So it's saying have you filledin your journal, have you done
your reflection?
And we're not saying every dayyou do this, it's just have you
thought about what we talkedabout in the content week and
(15:55):
how it might impact your life?
Because, to be honest, nigel,people are paying for the
program.
We want them to get a lot outof it.
We believe in the program.
So we can't guarantee successunless people engage with us and
that's really important.
So we actually interview thepeople to come into this very
small course to ensure, as bestwe can, that the characteristics
(16:16):
of the women that areparticipating align with these
really important mindsets ofbeing curious and biased to
action and reframing problemsand trying things.
It's really very importantbecause some people may think
that you enroll in a course andyour life design is fulfilled
after eight weeks and life justisn't like that.
Nigel Rawlins (16:36):
A couple of things I really liked hearing
about how you design that courseis where you've got some formal
training and discussion andthen you've got the group coming
back to discuss with each other.
So what you've got is asupportive cohort that gets to
possibly relate to each other,which is very important.
One of the biggest problems Isee out there and I think it's
(16:57):
very evident now is a lot ofonline courses people don't
finish and I think it's veryevident now is a lot of online
courses people don't finish, andI think I saw something on X
this morning about in Australia.
We have our technical trainingcourses.
Only 13% of people finish aTAFE course.
We're talking about the factthat some people do not finish
(17:17):
courses that they start.
Now I've paid for a whole lotof courses that I think sound
really good, but I haven't evenstarted them, and I paid for
them two years ago.
Eventually I may get around toit.
And then I see another courseand I buy that one too.
Kim Watty (17:29):
Yes, shiny, things.
Nigel Rawlins (17:31):
But the thing is you're keeping it nice and short
eight weeks focused and so Ithink that's got a better chance
of working, hasn't it?
It'll be exciting to see howthis cohort finishes and where
they go.
So the other thing you'vementioned there is that you're
quite careful about who youinvite to the program.
Was that a specific reasonthere?
Kim Watty (17:51):
yes, because it is a small cohort and we really want
women who are going to be, ofcourse, respectful and most
people are respectful but also,as I said, those really key
mindsets for life design aroundbeing curious, open to failure,
willing to participate, ie biasto action, not inaction.
(18:13):
Reframing problems.
It's too late.
I'm already set in my ways.
No, it's never too late.
The future is what you createit to be.
So it's always difficult to sayno to people, but it is worse if
you have a small group ofpeople and don't have a similar
curiosity, because we don't wanteveryone thinking the same,
because the challenge with womenis always where there is great
(18:35):
debate and interest andchallenge and that type of thing
.
So we really believe in thepower of women coming together
in a thoughtful manner and thepower of that particular group.
And that group can beundermined really quickly if
there are one or two people thatjust don't have a similar
approach to the eight-weekprogram.
So again, it's not easy to sayno to people and we do it very
(18:57):
rarely, but we absolutely have adiscovery call with every
person who participates becausewe want to ensure that alignment
of thought.
Nigel Rawlins (19:06):
That's very important.
What was I going to say?
I had something in my mind.
Oh, I was going to say so.
Where are these women based?
Are they Australian?
Kim Watty (19:17):
At the moment they're Melbourne based because we are
trying to have a couple ofcatch-ups.
So we thought with this cohortwe would make them all Melbourne
based.
It's online but we will have acouple of face-to-face
opportunities for the group,which we think is really
important.
But, nigel, again, in a smallbusiness that's starting, you
also limit your reach if youmake it just Melbourne and most
(19:39):
of it is going to be online.
And, to be quite frank, if weare as successful as we'd like
to be in helping women, there'snothing to stop us going more
global.
That's just the way of theworld and what technology allows
us to do.
But we still want to just keepcontrol of what's going on at
the moment.
At the moment it'sMelbourne-based women, mainly
(20:00):
aged between, say, 45 and 65, 70.
But we have someone on ourwaiting list for July who is 78
and said to me Kim, it's not forme.
I'm pretty settled and I saidyou could have another 20 years
to go.
Do you want to think aboutplanning what the next 20 years
might be like with moreintention and more purpose?
So that's the cohort.
(20:21):
At the moment I think it'sroughly 45 to 68, a few people,
and there are peoplecontemplating planning and just
retired at the moment.
They're the group and we wantto mix it up.
We don't want to have justeveryone who's been retired for
10 years or everyone that's 10years out from retirement.
But I was reading something.
It's a great quote and I'm notgoing to be able to remember it
exactly.
But I was reading something.
(20:41):
It's a great quote.
I'm not going to be able toremember it exactly, but it was
something like when is the besttime to start planning for your
future?
And, of course, the best timeis right now, and it doesn't
matter whether you're 20, 30, 50or 100, it's right now that's
really a wise thing.
Nigel Rawlins (20:54):
I keep thinking now that I'm I'm 69 and I'm
thinking but I'm 69 and I'mthinking, wow, if you're 40 and
you're contemplating your future, because one of the big issues
is relationships in your network.
I noticed that when I firstquit teaching over 25 years ago,
(21:14):
there was a person I knew whohad retired in business and he'd
lost contact with all hisbusiness people and then they
retired as well.
And that's the biggest danger,I think, is, if you decide you
want to do something when you'reolder and you've let your
network go you and they're notdifferent ages and they've all
(21:38):
retired all you can do is catchup for coffee, but it's not that
helpful.
Kim Watty (21:44):
No, there's research out there, of course, that talks
about the importance ofmaintaining community and social
networks in some way, and theresearch we looked at said 60%
of women didn't plan for theirretirement and they regret not
planning for it.
But again, I just want toreiterate and we talk about this
in the course that thedefinition of retirement, of
(22:04):
stepping back, isolation, thosetypes of words just doesn't fit
with the sort of women thatwe're dealing with.
They want to do differentthings.
It mightn't be a 50-hour weekand you're paid at X, y, z, it
doesn't really matter.
But if you can unhookremuneration from your work and
not feel locked into thatidentity, it actually opens up
(22:27):
the thought that work can becreative work, it can be some
paid work, it can be volunteerwork, it can be board work, it
can be community, it can becaring for your family, it can
be caring for your friend's dog,it can be whatever you choose
it to be.
And for me, that's the beautyof this stage of my life where I
have more control about thethings I want to do.
(22:47):
And we talked before about andI thought it was a great
question about how do you feelabout this new business that
you're creating and I said itjust feels right.
You know, that sense of askingwomen to think about what brings
them joy can be quitechallenging because they haven't
actually really thought aboutthat in that way.
What brings you joy, paddy play, those sorts of questions are
(23:10):
really helpful.
Yeah, I was reading a bookaround Ikigai, which is the
Japanese philosophy of life, andyou know, retirement is not a
word in the language in Japanbecause people go on and they
live.
There's a lot of blue zones inJapan and they live a long life
and retirement is not somethingthat is in their discourse.
And as people get to differentstages of their life, they do
(23:33):
less paid work but theyabsolutely have a lot of
community.
They work in community,exercise, mild exercise, none of
this h-i-i-t or killingyourself.
There's mild exercise, lots ofwalking, etc.
It's quite interesting to thinkthis word retirement has such
negative connotations in our Iwould say in the western world,
(23:54):
and that's a generalization, butI feel comfortable saying it
that people sometimes get avisceral reaction when they have
to say I'm retired.
Because I think people aregoing to ask that question,
which is what do you do all day,exactly, with that rising
intonation?
What do you do all day?
Nigel Rawlins (24:12):
That's the thing that's just popped into my head.
I was thinking if you weren'tinvolved in the main act, what
would you be doing?
Kim Watty (24:18):
Okay, so I did the Australian Institute of Company
Directors program and I was onabout four or five boards.
A lot of work doing a lot ofboard work.
It wasn't that more I waslooking for.
As I said, I retired fromfull-time work thinking there
was more, and then what would Ibe doing?
I don't know.
(24:38):
I'm now on three boards andthey're mainly education related
, which I do enjoy.
That's my board work.
I love exercising most of thetime and my swimming, and had
John still been with me, wewould have done a lot more
travel.
We had traveled a lot in thelast decade or so and we
probably would have continuedthat.
(24:59):
So I don't think I'm able toanswer that question.
I just don't know.
I would find something, butwhat I'm doing now just feels so
right.
Nigel Rawlins (25:08):
Yes, you can see the motivation in you.
You look like a young person,and I think that's the energy
that comes from doing somethingthat feels right and that you've
got the support for doing it.
So working with your daughter,that must be wonderful too.
Kim Watty (25:24):
It is.
It was interesting.
We were speaking to someoneelse who asked the question how
do you work together?
And my daughter had said thequestion was coming up and she's
very thoughtful.
And she said, mum, I mightmention about that feedback.
And she's right, because I tellher one of my many failings in
life is around feedback.
I don't think I receive it welland I'm very conscious of it.
So she said to me, working withmum, sometimes I can give mum
(25:48):
feedback and she doesn't alwaystake it on board and gets
defensive.
And I said to Prue, that'squite right.
Working with you, you also verymuch think everything that you
say is correct.
So we have a number ofconversations around some of the
wording or some of thedocuments that we want to share
with people, and sometimes itgets a bit quiet, but we are
(26:10):
very good at bouncing back andsaying we'll leave that for now,
let's get on to the next bit.
So I think there's a mutualrespect and I'm very cognizant
of her creative abilities andshe's aware of my abilities,
having been in education for 30years of constructing courses
and developing things forparticipants.
It's working well.
(26:30):
It's been nearly 18 months, twoyears, and we're still doing it
and I feel quite privileged tobe able to work with her.
It's a good dynamic also, nigel, because cross-generational
thinking, cross-generationallearning, is really important.
So I see things differently toPrue and it's really interesting
to share that with people.
(26:50):
I quite like that.
I think that's a really strongpart of the main act that we
respect difference and we'realso able to contribute from
different generations about howwe've dealt with different
challenges in our lives.
Nigel Rawlins (27:02):
Let's say, the other interesting thing I see
there too, is from 18 months ago.
You're not the same person andthe learning that's occurred, so
tell us something about that.
Kim Watty (27:13):
That is interesting.
I'm not the same person, sotell us something about that.
That is interesting.
I'm not the same person.
I suppose I'm not.
I think of my characteristics.
I am a lifelong learner.
I've always enjoyed learning.
I generally have a positiveattitude and a pretty high
energy, which is genuine energy.
I can also acknowledge thatthings aren't always tickety-boo
(27:33):
and you have to deal withlife's complexities.
I'm not really sure how I'mdifferent.
I'm definitely more aware ofstart-up businesses and the
challenges.
When I'm starting to get a bitconcerned about something, prue
is very much able to say justhold your nerve, mum, it'll come
through.
Before every major breakthroughand I know this, I've read it
before every major breakthroughis that feeling of that visible
(27:55):
feeling of my gosh, what are wedoing?
I must say, given herexperience in founding
businesses prior to this one,that's been absolutely fantastic
.
So I'm not sure how I'mdifferent.
I might have to take that oneon board.
Nigel Rawlins (28:07):
I was thinking what are things?
Have you had to learn that youdidn't use when you were at the
university?
Kim Watty (28:14):
Well, I think the different sorts of things I'm
reading.
So I'm not reading accountingjournals.
I am reading literature aroundthe 5am club, Ikigai,
mindfulness, journaling,trusting your vision, working
with women.
So I'm looking at a wholedifferent body of literature
than I was five years or threeyears ago.
(28:36):
So that's absolutely true, I'mdefinitely more thoughtful in
terms of how I'm living my life.
That's very different.
I do journal now not as oftenas I'd like, but I'm much better
.
I do meditate, I do yoga.
I wouldn't have done any ofthose things five years ago.
So there is a difference.
Yeah, I swim now, which Ihadn't done previously.
(28:59):
So it's a different kind ofgenre of things that I'm looking
at than I was when I wasworking in academia.
Nigel Rawlins (29:06):
Yeah, you are a different person.
Yeah, yeah, I've been inbusiness now, running this
marketing services company, for25 years.
I find reading anything aboutbusiness really boring.
Yeah, good, anything of it.
Look, I do read some marketingbooks and I'm thinking, nah,
that's just repeating the sameold crap and same with a lot of
(29:27):
strategy, except for PeterCompo's book, which I really
love, and I spoke to Peter Compoon the Wisepreneurs podcast
about strategy.
He doesn't like that word atall.
He talks about emergence andthings like that and aspiration
and bottlenecks.
It's a more practical way oflooking at stuff.
(29:48):
His was fantastic and reallyagain I get those internal
feelings, just like I have withthe Extended Mind.
Internal feelings just like Ihave with the Extended Mind
another author, luke P Boudain,that I've been reading about
cognitive productivity.
I'm 69 and getting reallyexcited about this stuff.
Yes, yes so what books havereally excited you the most?
(30:10):
You mentioned Ikagi.
Kim Watty (30:12):
Oh yes, robin Sharma's the 5am Club I really
enjoyed and I quite likelistening when I'm out and about
in the car.
So I'm currently listening tothe Wealth Money Can't Buy by
Robin Sharma and I'm almostfinished that.
I'm just looking there's threehours left.
It's probably been about eighthours.
Love that.
I'm up to 82 different thingsto think about in your life.
(30:34):
I do read a few novels everynow and again Helen Garner, but
I've read the book calledSuperfans.
I can't remember.
The author Did quite a bit ofreading around story brand and
brand script.
So, to be honest, when I gothrough that list, nigel, I have
absolutely changed 180, if not360 degrees in terms of the type
(30:55):
of reading that I now do.
Nigel Rawlins (30:57):
So a mix of fiction and some non-fiction.
Kim Watty (31:00):
Yeah, mainly non-fiction.
It's mainly related to fiction.
Sorry, fiction yeah.
Nigel Rawlins (31:04):
And are you reading on a Kindle or real
books?
Kim Watty (31:08):
I have mainly maybe 70% real books and 30% is my
audible when I'm walking.
I love that because I can putsomething on and if I actually
get into a state of flow, I whenI'm walking.
I love that because I can putsomething on and if I actually
get into a state of flow, I canjust keep walking and before I
know it I've walked for an hourand a half rather than 20
minutes.
But I'm absolutely committed tojust starting because I know
how important it is.
Don't really want to walk afterdinner.
(31:30):
Put on the shoes, headphones,get out the door.
If it's 20 minutes, it's 20minutes.
It's 20 minutes more than Iwould have done.
If it's an hour and 20 minutes,woo-hoo, I could have done.
I'm really happy with that.
I quite like Audible.
I know not everyone does.
I don't like Kindle, but yeah,I quite like Audible.
Nigel Rawlins (31:49):
And we should say that you're very lucky living
in Port Melbourne because you'vegot a beautiful beach walk that
goes for miles.
You can go all the way down toBrighton.
Kim Watty (31:54):
I think can't you, absolutely you can, Very nice
yeah.
Nigel Rawlins (32:00):
One thing I've had to do lately is when I go
for my walks is not listen tosomething.
Actually listen to my feettapping on the ground or the
birds or the wind.
I live on a bay but I have towalk on roads and along a
clifftop and a bit, but it'sstill lovely.
I love seeing the water.
But it's still lovely.
I love seeing the water, butI've had to stop myself
listening to podcasts all thetime.
Kim Watty (32:18):
I love that.
I love that because I have feltthe same and the last six
months I walk for my morningcoffee.
I've got a great coffee shopthat thank goodness opens at 6am
, which is just fabulous for thecommunity, and I absolutely do
not have anything in my ears forthat morning walk, and what a
(32:38):
difference that makes.
It's amazing.
So I the audible is usually theevening walk.
That can get be from any timebetween four and six.
I'll head out, particularly asI live a solo life now so I can
eat when I choose to and walkwhen I choose to.
But my morning walk is allabout nature, the birds, the
smell of the ocean and my veryfavourite coffee in the morning,
(33:00):
which is worth walking for.
Nigel Rawlins (33:03):
Surprisingly, we have a coffee shop near me.
So I'm in a little country townright down the end of a long
road near the bay, and justaround the corner from us we
have a little coffee shop.
Kim Watty (33:18):
Somebody from Bunswick moved down here and set
up a little coffee shop andwe've got a beautiful gelato
shop.
Nigel Rawlins (33:23):
Now anyone who wants to come to there has to
drive quite a while a while toget there.
Obviously the locals nearbywill go to.
It seem to have a lot ofhousing near here.
But yes, having a good coffeeshop, but gee, having a gelato
shop is really good too.
Agreed.
So coffee is very important,and the funny thing is I talked
to him because I was in Japanabout a month or so ago and I
(33:47):
had the most fantastic coffee ina little Japanese cafe
somewhere and I think he made itwith a drip system.
So I told my local guy and hesaid, oh, I'll make you a drip
coffee.
And it was fantastic.
And I was in there the otherday and I noticed he's got the
same drip machine that I've got.
Kim Watty (34:07):
You'd save yourself $6 every morning.
Nigel Rawlins (34:08):
Yes, I thought oh , bugger that.
Yeah, it's crazy.
All right, Okay, retirement bydesign.
It's crazy, all right, okay,retirement by design.
What advice do you give towomen about retiring, and when?
When should you start thinkingabout it?
Kim Watty (34:31):
Yeah, I think we chatted briefly before we
started taping about 62% ofwomen wish they'd planned for
retirement, so they felt a bitlost and a bit fearful of what
retirement might hold.
And there was another statisticthat said one in two wish that
they had planned earlier fortheir retirement.
When is retirement?
Whenever it suits you, becauseretirement isn't about finishing
work, it's about taking morecontrol of the different
activities that make up yourlife.
And I think there does come atime where, financially, you
(34:55):
have a, if you're fortunateenough.
There does come a time where,financially, you have a, if
you're fortunate enough, therecan come a time where,
financially, you do have alittle bit of flexibility in
terms of how you fill your days.
It doesn't have to beremunerated and, yeah, I think
that's very important.
So what we say to women isdifficult to say in a few
sentences, but I think thefundamentals are that now it's
(35:16):
your time to take control ofwhat your next chapter might
look like.
And it doesn't mean that thelast 40, 50 years haven't been
interesting and fulfilling, butit just means that you have the
opportunity to take more controlof what the next 10 years, 15
years, might look like.
And that control comes fromthinking differently and
designing the next stage years15 years might look like.
(35:37):
And that control comes fromthinking differently and
designing the next stage of yourlife with that intention and
purpose, which is really veryimportant, because you don't
come out of the eight-weekprogram with your life designed
for the next 20 years.
You come out of it.
We actually do three odysseyplannings at the end of the
program.
So we odyssey plan for threedifferent lives and you can look
at how life might look with noconstraints, full constraints,
(36:00):
strengths and medium constraints.
So after the eight weeks youcome out with a better way of
thinking about life andunderstanding a bit more about
yourself.
And we will do some odysseyplanning and you will come out
with a design that you thinkcould work for you.
And then in a few months timeyou go back and have another
look and you add to it and youchange it and you say this
worked or it didn't work.
But I think it's giving womenthe confidence and tools the
(36:23):
tools to be able to do this sortof work, but also the
confidence in themselves whichsome women don't always have.
Some people have said to me Idon't think I could do that
eight-week course I say mygoodness, you're a curious,
you're intelligent.
Why on earth would you thinkthat?
Oh, it sounds like it's out ofStanford.
I said absolutely not, you're asmart woman.
So it gives them the tools tobe able to review their life as
(36:47):
they move through it.
And again, people who thinkthat after eight weeks your life
design is completed aren'tbeing realistic, because life
throws up lots of unexpectedchallenges along the way and
opportunities.
We're very positive too.
We look for the greatopportunities.
Nigel Rawlins (37:03):
You mentioned a word there confidence, and I
must admit, I've heard that andit scares me when I hear highly
intelligent women say to meyou've given me the confidence,
and I'm thinking I'm some dumbbloke, I'm not as smart as you,
but they will tell me that Ihelped them with some confidence
(37:24):
, just like it's.
Very obviously you're going tobe very supportive and give them
the confidence they need.
But why do women say that theylack the confidence when you
know?
You look at their lives andwhat they've done and you think
unbelievable.
I never did half of that.
Kim Watty (37:43):
Yeah, I think it's embedded in our social
structures and the way thebusiness world works, and I
think it is changing.
But women remain in the serviceindustries, in education, in
social services, in child mining, etc.
There is structural variationbetween the genders, there's no
question about that.
There are more men on boardsthan there are women and there
(38:05):
are more men in the top 100income earners than there are
women, and that's no reason thatshould happen, other than the
opportunities that they've beenable to enjoy along the way.
So there's structuraldifference that I think keeping
women in their place is toostrong, because I certainly
think that there is opportunityfor women to move in any
(38:25):
direction they choose.
But I do think there isstructural differences in
context, in the environment andcertainly in business, where
women are not necessarilyencouraged to recognise their
own abilities and to actuallymove forward, move up, put
themselves forward.
There's evidence to suggestthat.
So I agree with you.
When this woman said I'm notsure I have the confidence, I
(38:47):
was absolutely shocked and Isaid don't do the program.
If you choose not to, that'syour call, but please don't do
it because you think you don'thave the ability to do it.
And I said, my goodness youcould contribute so wisely to
the conversation.
Nigel Rawlins (38:59):
That's it, Wisely can contribute, because that's
what age brings us that wisdom.
We call it crystallisedintelligence, that deep, with a
lot of tacit knowledge therethat we don't always recognise
what we know.
Okay, so tell me about the mainact and how people can find out
(39:22):
more about you, where they maybe able to read something about
the main act and you know thenext cohort that's coming up,
because obviously this one's Yep.
Kim Watty (39:32):
So our website is wwwthemainactcomau.
We have an Instagram page thatyou can find us.
The website, I think, is theone to go to.
I will be posting on thewebsite references to the couple
of articles that we've hadpublished and also I will be
putting a link on next week tothe interview that I did with
(39:53):
Tegan Taylor on the ABC RadioNational.
So I think our website isprobably the place to go.
The website also talks aboutour contact details.
So Prue and myself and I'd bevery happy for anyone to drop me
an email I'm just kim at themain act, although casecomau and
Prue is similar, but I'd behappy to hear from everyone,
(40:16):
from anyone.
So we have our autumn cohort,which is starting on May the 6th
, and then in July we will startour winter cohort and the
intention is to have a springcohort also.
And, nigel, we might thinkabout reviewing some of the
structure based on this, becausewe've had had, I must say, a
(40:36):
number of people who said we'dlove to do it, but I'm off
travelling to far-flung placesand I can't commit to eight
weeks.
So we actually are thinking ofhow we can possibly repackage it
so that eight-week weeklycommitment isn't necessary and
while we do record the sessionsfor those who are part of the
(40:56):
group who can't make it.
People like to be involved andwe want them to be involved too.
So at the moment it's eightweeks.
We may continue that withwinter.
We may chunk it into fourtwo-week parcels, to be decided,
but we want to respond to themarket consistently and
continuously along the way.
Nigel Rawlins (41:14):
That's all part of that learning.
You didn't mention LinkedIn.
You're on LinkedIn, aren't you?
Kim Watty (41:18):
Oh, I am on LinkedIn and so is the main act.
So I'm on LinkedIn, Kim Wattie,and the main act is also on
LinkedIn.
Nigel Rawlins (41:24):
yes, that's great .
Now, is there anything wehaven't covered just yet that
you'd like to talk about?
Kim Watty (41:30):
No, I think we've covered lots.
Nigel, we have, I think it'sbeen a really interesting
conversation, so there's nothingextra that I'd like to add.
I really enjoyed the questionsthat you asked.
Some of them I'll go away andthink about too.
Nigel Rawlins (41:40):
Thank you, Kim, for joining us.
That's been a wonderfulconversation.
Kim Watty (41:44):
Thank you, nigel, it's been my pleasure.
Popular Podcasts
Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club
Welcome to Bookmarked by Reese’s Book Club — the podcast where great stories, bold women, and irresistible conversations collide! Hosted by award-winning journalist Danielle Robay, each week new episodes balance thoughtful literary insight with the fervor of buzzy book trends, pop culture and more. Bookmarked brings together celebrities, tastemakers, influencers and authors from Reese's Book Club and beyond to share stories that transcend the page. Pull up a chair. You’re not just listening — you’re part of the conversation.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!