Influencers & Entrepreneurs Podcast

George Hartley fits the profile perfectly of your modern day start up tech entrepreneur.He bootstrapped his first ecommerce company in 2012, co-founded a new business in 2016 perfecting email marketing and is in the process of launching a new tech business relying on blockchain technology.George originally started marketing at University, however he quickly pivoted back into hid passion in computer science & gained valuable experience working in the emerging app development space in Victoria during a time of massive development growth.After toying with a few e commerce ideas, George quickly saw a need for art online in Australia, and industry he believe was underderserved & Bluethumb was born, now Australia's largest online art website.Smartmail was then born out of necessity for Bluethumb in 2016, and is now a standalone venture which combines smarter email marketing for global ecommerce companies.Moving into his newest venture, combining blockchain technology with email marketing rewarding good beha

James Cridland is a digital radio and media influencer, who is extremely well known in the radio and digital media circles internationally. This is predominately due to his wealth of experience since 1989 as a radio presenter, media producer, podcaster, director, consultant, speaker, judge and above all else a radio futurologist.James started off cutting his teeth at well-known UK media organisations in the 90’s such as Virgin Radio & the BBC, and after a Global research trip, he branched into more consulting type roles whilst running some private businesses in that space.One of his ‘side hustles’ as he calls it, is the well-known media.info website, a huge digital media source of information which generates over 500,000 monthly visitors aloneJames more recently moved his family to Brisbane, and we talk through the difference in digital media in Australia when compared to the work he does travelling the world consulting to top companies throughout the US, UK, Europe and every else in between.We also discu

Josh Marriage was drawn into online privacy after he went through the grueling process of having to have his own image removed from unfavourable websites.This occurred after he was stalked due to his popularity after starting the online beard grooming and growing community, Beardspo!Josh talks to me about the importance of protecting your valuable data, and as he says himself, we trade privacy for convenience far too much with hundreds or even thousands of businesses online.He also discusses the importance of protecting your name and image, using pseudonyms, the frustration of privacy policies how not to get taken advantage of online. Josh even shares some great tips about how to create better security with your email accounts, use two factor authentication, avoid phishing scams and much more.We also cover his role at internationally renowned Crypto organisation, CloakCoin, podcasting and he reveals more about his brand-new venture which combines his two passions, crypto and privacy into one new business.This

Shawn Godwin is the co-founder of one of SEQLD’s best known and award winning architectural firms, Base Architecture, as well as recent owner of a new café and bar called Quincy’s, in Brisbane funky Northside suburb of Grange.Shawn has built Base from the ground up since 2004, and during this time has expanded their digital presence to attract a combined following of over 17,000 followers across Social Media.Shawn talks to me about the importance of exploring digital opportunities for a new or established business, as well as touching on the point that if you aren’t the expert in a particular, then don’t be afraid you outsource or delegate to someone who is, that can do a better job!It is this philosophy which has helped Shawn focus on what he considers to be the most important aspects to both his businesses, which is keeping his staff happy and fulfilled.During this episode you will hear Shawn’s secrets to keeping staff long term, including embracing all of his employee’s feedback and opinions, bringing pets

James Grugeon loves a beer.. So much so, that after his arrival to Australia from the UK, he decided to set up Australia’s first ever Social Enterprise Beer Company, appropriately named, the Good Beer Co. So what does a Socially responsible beer company do?Well as you will find out, With every Good Beer drunk, at least 50% of the profits and a proportion of every keg and carton sold is shared with their charity partners, both here in Australia and back in the UK.James walks me through this relatively new concept and explain the process of contract brewing, whilst talking at length about how he went about approaching local craft breweries and major liquor retailers as well working with charity-based corporations that we wanted to partner with, in order to turn his vision into a reality.It hasn’t all gone down as smooth as a Friday knockoff beer however, James runs through the challenges he has overcome working against brewing Giants, deciding upon locations and the importance of being across digital marketing.

Justin Hickey is your quintessential entrepreneur.Originating from the great island of Tasmania and after a stint playing in the NBL, Justin started off cutting his teeth in ventures in hospitality and a communications business, international yacht races and commercial fishing, before finding his true calling in the digital and online media industry.Currently you can find Justin in charge of the Digital Elder suit of companies which includes brands such as Digital Elder Australia & UK, 24 Seven Live Chat, Page Builder, HumblAbode, Slashdot Web Sites and external venters Hydraplay water bottle as well as playing a major part in introducing Australia’s next major basketball sporting franchise.Splitting up his time travelling between various States and International trips whilst managing multiple teams across the World, Justin certainly is a busy man, and something tells me, he wouldn’t have it any other way.Justin explains to me what it takes to both become and stay an entrepreneur, and as you will hear, it

Carolin Piligrath is a global Travel Influencer & Renowned Social Marketing Coach, who owns Breathing Travel (a travel blog)  & Breathing Social Media (digital & social media agency).Carolin has a combined 35,000 followers (and growing) across various social platforms and works with major global brands such as Air BNB, Amex and Booking.com to name just a few. In this episode she enlightens us with some amazing tips how to grow & sustain a large following on social media platforms.Originally from Germany, Carolin picked up work with Tourism Australia & Tourism NT post her studies,, which deepened her love for all things travel and tourism and also inspired her to both create her own travel blog company and start her social media agency, specialising in social media strategies & Facebook advertising for her clients.Since becoming a digital nomad over three years ago she has since travelled all over the world sharing her experiences and showcasing interesting stories, travel and lifestyle

Dr Tavakoli is one of the Worlds busiest and best known breast surgeons. He has been performing plastic surgery procedures in Australia since the mid 2000’s, and he educates me on his journey from originally wanting to become a heart surgeon, into taking advantage of a shift in his industry and branching out to specialise in plastic surgery which in-turn lead to him carve out a premium brand as one of the World’s most elite breast surgeons.Dr Tav explains to me how when he started up his own practice how he himself had to become more adventurous and strategic in his marketing efforts, as customers transitioned from print into digital media and of course more recently, the rise of Facebook, Instagram and SnapChat.. Dr Tav is now known as an Industry leader and innovator in social, who has amassed a combined following of well over 600,000 fans and followers across his channels often reaching a weekly audience reach of over 3 million people globally.We talk about which social channels work best, to what failed i

Shan Cooper is health and food influencer who kind of fell into her current role as the Director of My Food Religion, simply through sharing food recipes and tips amongst friends and then blogging about her true passion, good healthy food.As a busy mum, foodie, coffee & bacon addict, Shan shares her journey about how she started out working as a Vet Nurse whilst running PT and boxing classes at local gyms before creating a website and blog about healthy food and wellness options, due to strong demand and requests from users on social media.Now over 5 years in, My Food Religion has over 45,000 followers on Instagram and Facebook alone, and Shan had released multiple eBooks whilst selling out healthy food workshops across Australia, and soon to be the UK.I talk to Shan about how to grow an audience online, what social channels do and don’t work, how to deal with click bait headlines and negative comments as well as the pros and cons that are associated with having one of your articles go viral across the wo

Cameron Reilly created Australia’s first ever Podcast, simply named ‘Gday World, which lead on to Cameron co-founding the first podcast business in the world, named the Podcast network.In it’s peak, the Podcast Network was producing over 1000 hours a month of audio, video and website content for a global audience of 1/2 million people whilst managing over 100 worldwide contractors. The network was generating large amounts of monthly advertising and sponsorship revenue, all back when Podcasts where virtually unknown and smart phones didn’t even exist.This episode is very much the Apprentice interviewing the Master, or the Grandfather of Podcasts if you will.We uncover how Cameron stumbled into the world of Podcasting after working at Microsoft, challenges with the technology available, hearing directly from Steve Jobs, aswell as how the GFC’s impacted his rising business at the time.These days he can be found creating and co-hosting a series of podcasts focused on history, philosophy and war and other related

If you ever wondered how influencers get their start, this is an interesting insight into how Sapphiroula (Sapph) started posting a couple of images online only 2-3 years ago, before it quickly gained tens of thousands of followers and turned into a full time career modelling clothes & accessories, travelling all over the world to attend fashion events, vlogging weekly & starting her own fashion & travel digital magazine.Sapph explains how she got her break using social media, how she told her Father she was leaving her Marketing graduate role to become a full time fashion influencer, and exactly how the process works in relation to being sent clothing and modelling these items online, especially considering she is a shop-a-holic who now has items delivered straight to her doorSapph epitomises the new, modern and completely social and tech savyy influencer, who uses a variety of digital mediums to both promote and sell her own personal brand, as well as other companies products all over the world,

Jason Roulston is a young entrepreneur in the recruitment industry, as well as an innovator in the digital recruitment space and a LinkedIn influencer who enjoys posting interactive and quite thought-provoking content online.I ask Jason about how he started his entrepreneurial journey in his mid-20’s, how he dealt with the challenges of starting a new agency and the need to work hard but also, be a little bit disruptive and become a person of influence.Jason also talks about more recently his desire to temper some of his opinions online in order to put his team and company first over being perceived as more of a ‘Maverick’ online, as well as the importance of surrounding yourself with good people.It’s a great insight into a young and successful entrepreneur who along with his business partners, is doing some great things in a highly competitive space, and has some very sound advice for the next generation of enterprising people coming through the ranks.You can connect with Jason on LinkedIn at https://www.lin

Sally Matterson is often referred to as the accountability coach, who is the owner and creator of the extreme shredder training system, a range of programs and workouts focused on the correct training, diet and balance of hormones.Throughout her career, Sally has managed to attract over 1.1M fans and followers on social media from across the World.Sally talks to me about running classes for Michelle Bridges, working in body sculpting and modelling through to transitioning into setting up an online business, promoting her programs and supplements and using social media successfully, such as Facebook live. We also discuss the delicate balance of running a business and conducting training online as well as training clients in person.Sally also talks us through her experience on being featured on Shark Tank, and how her 5 minutes if fame helped catapult her brand and business in a positive wayI really enjoyed this conversation, it opened up my eyes to how hard you have to work and how authentic you have to be to

In episode one I speak with Nigel Munt, the ex-partner of a large law firm who became addicted to methamphetamine and nearly lost everything. Nigel bounced back, created a successful business using creative marketing and social media, and is now a personal branding genius. Nigel shares his tips, tricks and thoughts on how to attract and grow an audience online for a business as well as build a successful personal brand.You can follow Nigel on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/staymad01Or follow Nigel on Instagram at @nigel_munt  https://www.instagram.com/nigel_munt