The Interview Australia

We’re fortunate to have the opportunity to be joined on today’s episode with Nick Wakim - the self-made Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Phoenix Lithium, a pure-play developer embarking on a globally significant journey to become one of the World’s largest producers of lithium. Born in Melbourne to parents of Lebanese heritage, Nick’s upbringing saw him move multiple times across the World from an early age, transitioning variously across Papua New Guinea, Lebanon, England & Chicago. Emulating the entrepreneurial pursuits of his father, Nick’s business career has taken him across the World, from securing landmark deals across the Middle East to acting as a corporate advisor, personal investor & macro strategist to individuals, companies & Governments across a range of industries. Prior to launching Phoenix Lithium in 2009, Nick was involved in the establishment of a number of businesses including Vision Financial Group, a business that provided corporate finance & advisory services, Intercorp Group, an organisation that led joint venture & technology transfers and Phoenix Group, a business through which he advised senior ministers of Australia and Saudi Arabia on trade negotiations. Under Nick’s leadership, Phoenix Lithium is today best known for their remarkable pursuit to create North America’s largest lithium project, with their East Brawley project combining an enormous 23,000 acres of surface & mineral rights through which the company projects to be able extract enough lithium to produce in excess of a million electric vehicles per annum. Alongside his professional commitments, Nick established the Wakim Family Office (WFO), a private investment vehicle through which he deploys capital across residential & commercial real estate, technology ventures & horse- breeding. Owing to personal tragedy, Nick also founded the Farid Wakim Foundation in 2023 through which the family channel their philanthropic endeavours. In this rare & exclusive profile, Nick shares his extraordinary journey in both life & business, filmed on-location at his private residence in Melbourne, Australia. Founder & Host | Rob Langton Proudly produced & distributed exclusively via Ready Media Group. Further Information: https://www.phoenixlithium.com/ https://readymedia.com.au/ Subscribe | www.youtube.com/theinterviewau

Joining our series for his first exclusive, in-depth profile is self-made businessman & healthcare entrepreneur Dennis Bastas - Executive Chairman & CEO of DBG Health, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Arrotex Pharmaceuticals and Chairman of burgeoning consumer health enterprise, VidaCorp. In this exclusive interview, Dennis takes us on a journey throughout his remarkable career, from the pivotal moments that led him into the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, to the growth and evolution of DBG Health - along the way, exploring the key lessons, achievements, challenges, and successes that have led him to become one of Australia’s preeminent businesspeople. Founder & Host | Rob Langton Proudly produced & distributed exclusively via Ready Media Group. Further Information: https://readymedia.com.au/ https://dbghealth.com.au/

Joining our program in this exclusive feature profile is Tony Quinn - Founder of Quinn Family Office. A visionary, pioneer & the man with the Midas touch, Tony’s remarkable business success is a journey across three Countries, wherein his innate corporate nous combined with a relentless work ethic has enabled him to scale to the top of a diverse range of industry sectors including fresh pet food, confectionary, motorsport & commercial real estate investment. Though perhaps best known for his early success as the founder & driving force behind global market leader VIP Petfoods, the business he established from the ground up in 1994 before selling a majority stake to Quadrant Private Equity in a $410m transaction in 2015, Tony’s business achievements extend far beyond the VIP deal & incorporate a number of other triumphs; not least of which being the rapid turnaround & re-structuring of the infamous Darrell Lea Confectionary business, a company he acquired in 2012 for $25m before selling six years later in a $200m deal. Alongside his well popularised feats with both VIP & Darrell Lea Confectionary, The culmination of this financial success over a long period of time led to Tony establishing his own private investment vehicle Quinn Family Office (Quinnfinity Group) in 2015, a company through which he channels his considerable resources & expertise to invest in a broad spectrum of domestic and international businesses, commercial property assets throughout the World & venture opportunities. In this rare & exclusive profile produced and distributed by Ready Media Group, Tony Quinn details his extraordinary life, from growing up in a caravan in Aberdeen, Scotland to becoming one of the World’s most successful self-made business owners & investors - this is Tony Quinn, in his own words, filmed in his adopted hometown on Queensland’s Gold Coast, Australia. Founder & Host - Rob Langton.

Joining our program on this episode is prolific Western Australian entrepreneur & company director, Michael Malone - Founder of iiNet, the homegrown Australian success story he built to become the Nation’s second largest listed ISP with over 2,000 personnel, over 1m customers & $1bn in annual revenue prior to its sale in 2015 in a circa $1.5bn deal. In this rare & exclusive interview, Michael details his extraordinary personal & professional successes, the journey of iiNet, his unique philosophy and approach to business, the evolution in Western Australia’s start-up scene and what he considers his most seminal achievements. Presented exclusively by Ready Media Group. Host - Rob Langton

Joining our program on this episode is prolific developer, agricultural investor & businessman Gerard O’Brien - Founder & Director of Silverleaf Investments, a privately held commercial real estate investment company. For over three decades, Gerard has been an instrumental figure across Western Australia’s real estate & business communities, playing an integral role particularly throughout Fremantle wherein his award-winning retail, commercial and residential projects have significantly added too & boosted the appeal of the City.

 Alongside his development / re-development projects in Fremantle, Gerard also has extensive commercial holdings throughout Perth & Hobart in addition to a number of private farming interests. In this exclusive profile, Gerard walks us through his background, his approach to real estate investment & development, how the Cities of Fremantle, Perth and Hobart have evolved over recent decades & the types of opportunities he sees on the horizon for sophisticated investors. Founder & Host - Rob Langton Proudly produced & distributed exclusively via Ready Media Group. https://readymedia.com.au/