Better Questions Better Life Podcast (formerly The Why 2 Podcast)

Today's episode features Narelle Fraser who is a retired Police Detective with the Victoria Police who has a career spanning 27 years. 15 of those as a Detective at the Rape and Homicide Squads and Missing Persons Unit, but dedicating much of her career to investigating child abuse and sex offences. This interview is an amazing glimpse and rare glimpse in to how she went about asking questions and investigations. Both with victims who had suffered some of the most horrific things a person can experience, and asking questions to those who committed these crimes.  I highly recommend you check our some more episodes where Narelle goes in to more detail about some of the things she experienced in her career.  Link to Australian True Crime (iTunes)   Make sure you follow the Better Questions Better Life on the socials! Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/betterquestionsbetterlife/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dustin-elliott/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/bqbl_ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/b

“Quality questions create a quality life. Successful people ask better questions, and as a result, they get better answers.”  – Tony Robbins Welcome to the first episode in the Why 2 Podcast’s first episode of the new miniseries all focused around how we can ask better questions to live better lives. This first episode is a short introduction to this new project and centers around answering 3 key questions: 1. What is it? 2. Why did I create it? 3. Why should you care??!?! Make sure you follow the Better Questions Better Life on the socials! Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/betterquestionsbetterlife/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dustin-elliott/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/bqbl_ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betterquestionsbetterlife/

After having celebrated the Why 2 Podcast being over a year old now, interviewing over 25 amazing professionals from a variety of backgrounds, today's episode gets right at the heart of the Why 2 Podcast is trying to achieve. It's all about answering the question, how do you cross the chasm from where you are, to where you want to be? Simple question, but as many of you listening are well aware of, not as easy as it sounds. This process is fraught with uncertainty about where you are, where you want to go, and how to cross the chasm to get to that life that you envision and dream about every day. And to do that, today’s episode features the wonderful Kate McCready. Kate McCready runs her own Career & Work-Life coaching practice and works with individuals in helping them answer this question here. She also runs the top-rated podcast called the Good Work Revolution which strongly recommend giving it a listen. Connect with Kate on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, her podcast, and check out her

This episode of the Why 2 Podcast is a very special one as I've invited the wonderful and talented Ruby Lee who hosts the Own Your Hustle Podcast, to take the microphone over in this Takeover edition of the Why 2 Podcast.  Ruby has been a personal inspiration for me over the last few years as I've followed her journey as she's developeded her own side hustle and meticulously honed her skills along the way. She's incredibly generous to share so much information about her journey and the skillsets she uses which has driven her success. In only the first 65 days of full time running her side hustle, she's made over $65K and shows no signs of stopping. For this episode, she takes the microphone over and speaks about her journey, her side hustle, and brings in her husband and business partner Michael Poon to talk about running a business together.  Make sure you connect with Ruby on Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and check out her website with links to her podcast. 

This episode is very different from any previous episodes heard here on the Why 2 Podcast, and one that I've wanted to have for over the last 5 years.  I’ve actually known Jason Hamborg (Co-Founder and Production Manager of 6ix Sigma) for a long time now, as we both went to University of Northern British Columbia to get our Human Resources degrees. But when we graduated, Jason did something very unexpected. You see though, while I entered the HR world with all the momentum behind me, I watched Jason first hand take a radical pivot in his career to start 6ix Sigma. At the time, I thought he was conducting career suicide by taking such a dramatic step away from HR and not capitalising on all the momentum we had both worked so hard to built and instead launch a business into a fledgling industry.  But what Jason did next, was absolutely incredible and inspiring!  Connect with Jason on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. 

From a challenging upbringing, having only 60 seconds to live, being on the brink of financial ruin, receiving death threats, and everything in between, Travis is the first to say that he shouldn't be successful. But he is! he is! He has successfully started multiple multi-million dollar businesses over the last few years and shows no signs of stopping!  Frankly speaking, Travis Jones hardly needs an introduction. But, just in case you haven’t heard of Travis, he is the Managing Director of the RBT gyms, runs a Small Business Consulting company, a Digital Agency called Think Tank, and if that’s not impressive enough, he’s also just in the process of launching a Health and Fitness App. Travis’s story is absolutely incredible, to say the least, as we explore how we went from a professional rugby player, to having just 60 seconds to live, to starting and growing various multi-million dollar businesses. I’ve wanted to interview Travis for a long time now, and he was actually the first person I wrote down on

Today’s guest is Natalie Firth, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Think Talent,  Melbourne's fastest-growing, female-led recruitment agency. They specialise in executive recruitment across marketing, technology & innovation, people & culture and executive support. Think Talent was also recently awarded the Small Recruitment Agency of the year during the latest SEEK Annual Recruitment Award - one of the highest honours in the hyper-competitive industry of recruitment here in Australia. But, what makes Natalie’s story so interesting though is the circumstances that her and her Co-Founder, Ainsley started the business in. Now, while I’m sure most people agree that starting a business can be very challenging at the best of time, but Think Talent was launched right while Natalie was pregnant with her second child and adding to her very young family. If you’ve ever come up with an excuse as to why you can't start your business, this is a great chat that will surely make you rethink the perceived obstacles in your

When I learned about Michael Ellis's (Head of Culture for Vinomofo) background, I couldn't figure out why he was so successful given his background.  This conversation was a deeply personal one for me, as if you had gone back just a few years into my history, I would have told you how I aspired to work with a fast-paced, innovative, and people focused company that was redefining what Culture was in an organisation. That dream would basically have looked exactly what exactly what Mikey has done at Vinomofo. He’s worked with the Founders of Vinomofo to grow it from about 40 staff here in Australia to over 130 staff across Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and now expanding into the US Market. They’ve been featured in the Top 25 Great Places to Work 2016 list, received an award for Most Successful Staff Engagement, and have created one of the most sought-after employer brands in Australia (and one of the coolest offices that has a massive wine bar!!). However, a quick look at Mikey’s history shows that prior

Just about every time I speak with Aaron,  I always came back to this one question that has been almost haunting me since I first met him; how does a guy, who got a degree in and still occasionally moonlights as a radiologist, run a successful global software company from rural Australia? Aaron Price is one of the Co-Founders behind Wyzed and Cloudschool. Wyzed, his latest business requires little introduction as, of course, they’ve been the sponsor for the Why 2 Podcast for many episodes now. In addition to that, I’ve also been working with the team at Wyzed for the last few months and getting to know Aaron personally through that time.  Aaron has never done any formal training in business or even worked in another software company, never taken any outside investment, but he and the team have has still managed to grow this business from nothing to doubling quarter all while living in rural Australia. I’ve personally watched him close large enterprise deals, write amazing marketing copy, forge some unlikel

So when I sat down with Fiona my question was simply this, how does someone go from TV to Investment Banking, and finally land on Design Thinking Consulting and training? On the surface of it, Fiona Triaca's career makes no sense. Currently, she is the Founder and CEO of Naked Ambition where they teach the habits of innovation to corporate mavericks so that they can solve complex challenges, seize opportunities and lead their company into new territory. But if we scroll back in her CV, you’ll see that she had actually received a Masters Of Arts in Creative Media and Screenwriting. But then a quick look at her working life, you’ll see that while she did have a short stint in film, she quickly switched to the world of Investment Banking where she spent over 8 years before starting Naked Ambition. What I found was a very interesting insight as to the fundamental skills, insights, and mentality that she used to climb her way up in the Investment Banking world where she quickly identified an opportunity that le

Gigi is currently Founder and Managing Director of LiveHire. LiveHire is an ASX traded company who are the technology firm behind the Live Talent Ecosystem. This is where people privately connect with Live Talent Communities of the best employer brands. More importantly, though, LiveHire's purpose is to empower the flow of the world's talent, to create a more agile, open and awesome working world. And what an awesome world they have created, after starting Livehire in 2012 with co-founder Michael Haywood, Livehire has grown to extraordinary levels. Just to give you a sense of what that means, at the time of recording they have achieved a 170million dollar market cap and now work with some of Australia's largest companies like Bupa, Telstra Health, KPMG, Roy Hill, and so many more!! However, if we go back just a few years before LiveHire started, we find that Gigi had just completed a degree in Mechanical Engineering in Italy. Shortly after he received his degree, he made the bold decision to move to Australi

This episode of the Why 2 is Podcast is a very a special episode and something I haven’t done as of yet on this show. For the first time on the podcast, I want to turn the microphone around on myself and revisit the last year of the Why 2 Podcast awhile discussing some important topics for the year ahead. More specifically though, I wanted record this episode because, as I reflected over my 2017 year, the podcast came under the microscope. In that, there were some wins, some failures, some mistakes, more than a few cringeworthy moments, some great learnings, and a few regrets about the podcasts. Seeing as the best time to address them was at the time, and the second best time is now, better late than never I guess! For this, I wanted to take you back and explore the origins of the podcast through a quick narrative explaining a particular thread of my life where the idea for the podcast originated from. And as a part of the previously mentioned reflection and through some wonderful conversations about the p

Adam Murray is currently a Product Manager at Cogent, but probably best known for being the man behind the mic of the Subtle Disruptors Podcast. After having completed over 70 episodes, Subtle Disruptors is a weekly podcast of down-to-earth and inspiring conversations with those who are having an amazing local and global impact through their work, in an under the radar way. Each conversation is recorded in a location that is significant to the story of the guest, from coworking spaces to cafes, train stations to bars. Adam has had incredible success with the podcast and risen to the coveted front page of iTunes, where you should head after you listen to his interview here and check out his podcast(links below to iTunes). I’ve been a fan of Subtle Disruptors after hearing previous guest of the Why 2 Podcast, Corey Wastle, featured on Subtle Disruptors back in April, just before the Why 2 Podcast officially launched. From there I’ve found myself in an ever deepening sense of awe of Adam’s ability to ask the r

Adam Jelic is currently Founder and Managing Director at Mi Goals. Their mission to help you unlock the potential within yourself to dream, plan and take action on the life you want. More than a stationery brand, they’re a global community of dream chasers and action takers. I had actually originally found Adam and Mi Goals from a Kickstarter campaign where I was blown away to see that they raised 4 times their goal and had amazing outpouring of support and interest in their latest product, Goal Digger. To be honest from the outset, this isn’t a triumphant, ‘overnight success story’ where by doing these 2 simple things you can create a million dollar business for yourself tomorrow. It’s the story of Adam’s life, as he recounts how he faced the challenges that we all face when we chase our dreams. That challenge of self doubt, people pushing you towards the safe path, the responsibilities that life can thrust on you unexpectedly, and ultimately how to live towards your values and goals. But in that, Adam ha

Today’s guest is Mark Middo. Mark is currently Chief Marketing Officer and Co-Owner of Linkfluencer. Recognised by Forbes as Australia's Leading LinkedIn Training Company, their mission is to transform social selling on LinkedIn and build the next generation of influencers. Mark himself has been prominently featured by some of the largest publications in the world including The Sydney Morning Herald, Cosmopolitan, Bloomberg and was recently recognised by The Huffington Post as one of Australia's leading online entrepreneurs. He is also an international best selling author of 5 Minute Business which skyrocketing to #1 in the world on Amazon within the first 3 days of it's release and had over 42,000 downloads on Kindle within that period. Mark is a serial entrepreneur through and through. From his early online days of creating online's businesses, to starting a bar at the young age of 19 with no experience, he has since then gone on to start consulting businesses, an innovative entertainment business, and no

My guest today is Ash Marton, Director and Co founder of Ash Marton Realty. At the young age of 21 with only a few years of experience, and after a serendipitous moment at a Tony Robbins Conference, Ash and his business partner Lilly resigned from their job and opened the doors to their own real estate agency. From there, Ash and his business have risen to meteoric levels with appearances on selling houses Australia and Skye News, as well as being selected as a finalist at the industry REB awards for innovator of the year and residential agency of the year. However, my favourite of Ash’s accomplishments is that of having been invited to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s house in California. From a make or break moment early in his real estate career to growing an office with a team of over 17 and grand plans for the future, Ash is an incredible example of a man who has taken life head on and achieved so much in such a short amount of time. This chat is a must for anyone listening who doesn’t feel that they have “w

  Dara Simkin, Director and Play Consultant of Project Play and is an author and mindset coach who runs Project Play which fosters creativity, encourages innovative thinking and improves employee engagement by cultivating a new culture of business with strategic play. She utilises research in the field of play from neuroscience and psychology, to animal play behaviour and evolutionary biology, Project Play has crafted experiential play programs for businesses and professionals. Dara tells us her story of starting out in PR and marketing in Florida to winning an all-expenses paid trip to Tasmania and moving to Australia, eventually taking a dramatic turn in what she does today. She also comes to us with a tremendous amount of insight and knowledge into areas that are fundamental to our growth. This is a wide ranging chat where we go deep into themes of mindfulness and our relationship with ourselves. We explore what we can do to ensure that we are balanced, productive, fulfilled humans living in this comple

  Michael Back is a self proclaimed Customer Experience Enthusiast, Social Media dude, and public speaker. He has been named as one of the top 50 most influential social media users in finance in 2014 and 2015 by the Financial Standard and now works with various small businesses across Australia to build and hone their own amazing client experiences and bring into focus the intersection between what they do and how their world perceives this. But with that being said, I think an even more important distinction which sums Michael up is that he actually received an award for “always being interested” in primary school. That innate curiosity has grown and flourished into a man that has an incredible thirst for knowledge when it comes to life and people, leading him to have an profoundly insightful outlook on life which can benefit us all.   In this chat, we unravel Michael’s very human story, that of which anyone of us could have lived as he makes sense of himself and the world. We hear about someone who was

  Vanessa Wiltshire currently works as the Business Development and Engagement Coordinator for the Mitchell Shire Council, 80kms from Melbourne. After spending 7 years in Corporate Human Resources, Vanessa struggled to find her place. What started in a fit of exasperation (and a strategic attempt to fill a resume ‘gap), Vanessa developed The HR Talent Community. The HRTC was a network of, and think tank, of over 2000 HR, talent and learning professionals across the world. In 2014 Vanessa was profiled in the Australian Financial Review and BRW by Fiona Smith. But it wasn't fulfilling. And although multiple opportunities presented themselves to commercialise, something always held Vanessa back. As we dig deeper in her journey, we explore Vanessa’s own personal growth and a raw account of her story that led her to make some dramatic life changes. What I love about her journey, and what I am sure that many people listening to now can resonate with, is how she grappled with being true to her values while d

  Today we’re join by Hafiz Omar or Coach H as he is best known as. Coach H is currently a personal trainer at RBT South Melbourne and his own lifting group, Ethos. he has over 12 years in the personal training industry and has trained professional and amateur athlete at an extremely high level. We’ll get to meet H in a few moments, so hang tight! Today's chat is all about exploring the tools and tactics that he uses to both coach he uses to coach his own coaching group but also with his amateur athletes who he trains now. If you listen to my podcast, you either love my voice, or more likely you aspire to being better and chasing and achieveing your dreams. This chat gets right at the core of habits and thought processes everyone can use to make sure they can make those dreams a reality! Wheather you are a manager, a leader, mentor, or just want to use the same proven techniques that have led to the development of Coach H’s amateur atheletes in achieveing their goals, then this chat is you. Coach H's