The Impactology Podcast

#9 Sue Brierley "The Extraordinary Untold Story of Sue Brierley, Mother of Saroo, the boy known as LION"

The 2016 movie Lion captures the true story of Saroo who at aged only 5, lost all contact with his family when he was at a train station in India. Saroo was later adopted by a loving couple from Tasmania, John and Sue Brierley. Sue Brierley’s book, “Lioness” is fearless, confronting and provides a window her world as an adoptive parent.  Click here to buy: "Lioness" [https://www.booktopia.com.au/lioness-sue-brierley/book/9780143796039.html?source=pla&gclid=Cj0KCQiAhf2MBhDNARIsAKXU5GRi8ujxCQ6fKZ6WwhF3mEBV4OgB8xmQP3Ssm0r56ehg-fyNztGlcr4aAiTyEALw_wcB] . The book is out now in Australia, UK, New Zealand and Netherlands. Print release in the US: February 2022. 34min 45sec: Reflections and questions to test your thinking and help you put the learnings into action: Let’s start with purpose, Sue has this presence and conviction that communicates a strong sense of what’s right and wrong. And it’s this clear belief system, which has driven the choices and actions in her life and they’ve been aligned to her life’s purpose.  To get you thinking, I will lean on the Japanese concept of ikigai. Iki meaning alive, gai meaning purpose, or what gives your life purpose or meaning. To find your life’s purpose, ask yourself: what do you love? What are you great at? What does the world need? What can you get paid for? Aligning the responses to these questions, or the heart of these responses is your ikigai, your life’s purpose.  Be sure to check out "Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life" by Hector Garcia [https://www.amazon.com/Ikigai-Japanese-Secret-Long-Happy/dp/0143130722] And secondly, resilience. Sue’s a passionate advocate for adoption and faced many heartbreaking decisions and obstacles trying to change a system that is broken and more close to home, bring a life of love and opportunity to Saroo and Mantosh.  Sue’s heartfelt care for children in India who don’t have parents, who deserve the love of family. A life of love and opportunity. But she stayed true to her purpose, was staunch and passionate.  To be resilient means you need a positive self-perception, empathy, a high level of self-awareness and emotional intelligence. And importantly, understand and accept that life is full of challenges. So, my question to you is…do you think you have a high level of self-awareness…got the answer, then ask someone near and dear to you, the same question…is it consistent with your perception of self?  What are your top 3 strengths and what can you do to enhance them? Full Video of Interview [https://youtu.be/M7Y3dQZBDG0?t=8]

#8 Janine Robertson & Paul Gordon (Part II) "Spenditude: The Life-changing Attitude To Money"

In this episode, listen to our great friends and best-selling authors, Janine Robertson [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerobertson/] and Paul Gordon [https://www.linkedin.com/in/1uncommonmind?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_profile_view_base_contact_details%3B56DqsksuSGqnq7kBmREFmQ%3D%3D] discuss their book “Spenditude: A life changing attitude to money”. It's a brilliant read, with clever thinking that will challenge you to focus on what is important – that your habits, behaviours and attitude to money ultimately impacts your financial wellbeing.  To buy the book: https://www.spenditude.com/ [https://www.spenditude.com/] Janine and Paul are deeply passionate about helping people and have been on a mission for over a decade to get people thinking differently about their relationship with money. Their message is simple, sort out your Spenditude, your attitude to money, and you will take a big step forward to gaining the financial freedom you deserve.  20min 52sec Reflections and questions to test your thinking and help you put the learnings into action: The focus is on three themes from Part II: 1. Awareness and 2. Adopting a Mindset of Self-Disruption 1. Awareness So, here’s a few questions to ponder... When it comes to awareness…how would you describe your attitude to money?  How would someone who knows you well describe your attitude to money?   If you’re not sure…ask some one who knows you well. Are you ready to accept ‘your’ current attitude to money and do something to change for the better and/or keep doing what already works for you?  2. Adopt A Mindset of Self-Disruption.  Paul said it succinctly, that the “Window of change is open during times of disruption…we’re less likely to consider change when times are good.”  So, my question for you is and closely linked to the awareness theme…if you know your relationship with money, and accept you need to make change…then, “how will you disrupt yourself?” “How will you adopt a life-changing mindset of self-disruption to keep you focused and on track to your financial freedom.”

#7 Janine Robertson & Paul Gordon (Part I) "Spenditude: The Life-changing Attitude To Money"

In this episode, listen to our great friends and best-selling authors, Janine Robertson [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jerobertson/] and Paul Gordon [https://www.linkedin.com/in/1uncommonmind?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_profile_view_base_contact_details%3B56DqsksuSGqnq7kBmREFmQ%3D%3D] discuss their book “Spenditude: A life changing attitude to money”. It's a brilliant read, with clever thinking that will challenge you to focus on what is important – that your habits, behaviours and attitude to money ultimately impacts your financial wellbeing.  To buy the book: https://www.spenditude.com/ [https://www.spenditude.com/] Janine and Paul are deeply passionate about helping people and have been on a mission for over a decade to get people thinking differently about their relationship with money. Their message is simple, sort out your Spenditude, your attitude to money, and you will take a big step forward to gaining the financial freedom you deserve.  22min 35sec Reflections and questions to test your thinking and help you put the learnings into action: The focus is on three themes from Part I: Adaptability, Ego, Your Mind’s Narrative.    Let’s start with adaptability: Paul and Janine mentioned, that your Spenditude, your attitude to money, may vary depending on what is happening in your life. They shared their personal stories and the impact it had on them, but what stood out for me was – when we are faced with life’s challenges, we make the necessary behavioural changes to adapt and cope. But how often do we pro-actively adopt, defender behaviours in times of crises?  So, the question for to consider: “During tough times, and we’re not talking about financial hardship, we’re talking about life’s challenges…how do you adapt your attitude to money? Your spending habits?  Do you spend more when you’re stressed?  The second theme is Ego. Where do we start with this one?! And as adult, it can be uncomfortable being challenged about the way you manage your finances, being forced to reflect on what is your attitude to money. And ultimately the impact it’s having on your life and the lives of those around you.  Ego can get in the way of doing what’s right and proper. So, controlling your ego for a moment…in the words of Paul and Janine…are you a spender, slender, or defender? Do you think you can do a lot better? How are you going to re-shape your attitude to serve you better? And finally, Paul and Janine said it succinctly, ‘watch the narrative in your mind about money’.  So, the question for you is: What stories do you tell yourself about money?  Is it easy come, easy go? Or, I worked hard for it, and will make it work hard for me? Do you tell yourself stories that justify your spending habits?  Do think you deserve a life where money is not an issue and you’re in control?

#6 Joshua Ross "Millions for Education: The Humanitix Impact Story Continues..."

What makes Humanitix story so unique, is that they developed a new model for charities. In the process, they’ve targeted and disrupted the global event ticketing industry…a highly profitable industry with inefficiencies and ripe for disruption. Their business model is a timely experiment in what Humanitix calls, “compassionate capitalism”. This is a powerful call to action for those wanting to follow a for-purpose path.  Where profit and purpose are working in harmony.  The important lesson here: Humanitix has been laser-focused, developing a great tech product, and the customer’s experience has been at the heart of everything they do, and Humanitix is led by co-founders, Josh and Adam McCurdie, who have drive, conviction and purpose. This episode is a masterclass in growing and scaling a social enterprise.  Overcoming scaling difficulties, building strategy, managing funders and partners, preserving culture, employee development and dealing with black swan events.  In the past year, Josh, his co-founder Adam McCurdie distributed $4m to not-for-profit projects and this year on track to distribute $8-$10M.  That is huge. Significant traction in 3 short but complex years, since I last spoke with Josh in this kind of setting. The themes of Preserving Culture and Playing to your Strengths. Preserving Culture. Whether you're nurturing a team culture or safeguarding the identity of your organisation, it's vital to prioritise authenticity and clarity on your company or team’s values. Josh spoke about “taking a hit as a team” during the pandemic – explaining the important role of unity and building trust, Josh discussed the importance finding employees that are passionate about Humanitix and also passionate about the work that needs to be done.  Josh spoke about implanting your “cultural heroes” into new teams and offices to galvanise and reinforce the right culture. Here are two questions to reflect on: 1. How are you actively maintaining and enhancing your team's values, ensuring they align with your daily responsibilities and interactions? 2. Are you clear about your company's culture, including the values and behaviours that are most beneficial to the success of your company? And well aligned are your behaviours to the culture of the company? And finally, Playing to your strengths Josh really knows himself and what he believes in. Whether it's with Humanitix employees, partners, funders, or just friends, people know where he stands. He's not one to just go with the flow and with what is conventional; he's found his own way to connect with and make an impact on those around him. Following your own path and playing to your strengths is key. It's about being true to yourself while being open to positive influences. This takes self-awareness, compassion, and strength.  Josh shares his experience and the most practical advice for "playing to your strengths" is to identify what you're naturally good at and focus on leveraging those abilities.   So, here's something to reflect on:  Reflect on: 1. What are your strengths? Your weaknesses? What tasks or activities energise and motivate you?  2. In what situations at work and in your personal life can you leverage your strengths to consistently excel?  We’ve also adapted the original chat with Josh into a podcast episode, and it is a valuable companion to this episode – check out that episode, there is a wonderful backstory to Humanitix as part of Episode 5.

#5 Joshua Ross (Impactology Live Recap) "The Humanitix Story: Building A Scalable Social Enterprise"

Today’s episode we’ll hear from Joshua Ross, who is the co-founder and co-CEO of social enterprise, Humanitix, disrupting the global ticketing industry.  Some important context, this interview you’re about to hear was part of Impactology Live, a global virtual event, where we interviewed 33 amazing people over 3 days…all interviews were streamed live, and the rich content provides us a chance to reflect on the key learnings from these chats. This conversation, provides an inspiring back story on Josh and his co-founder Adam McCurdie, and their brave decision to start a social enterprise with the ambitious goal of make a global impact on education projects.  Josh is inspiring, brave, smart, focused and is rewriting the rules on what it means to start and grow a sustainable social enterprise and the role Atlassian has played as a major partner in their growth. The lesson from the chat you’re about to hear has stayed with me for three years…you’ll understand why when you hear about that one night on a rooftop in Sri Lanka, when the unwavering commitment and bond between Josh and Adam was forged to do something special in the social enterprise space…it wasn’t until a few years later, for the Humanitix idea to come to life… There were so many important business and life lessons in this episode.  One life lesson Josh beautifully illustrated was the power of pursuing your dreams.  Not a phrase we share often enough with the right people in our life.  Josh Ross candidly shared the unique dynamics (the rules), that underpin his relationship with co-founder Adam McCurdie AND also discussed the barrier to pursuing your dreams – loneliness. Inspired by Josh’s story, let's delve into these two themes:  Josh and Adam have a unique, agreed rule for building a sustainable business relationship: "things will never be the same."  Workload and effort will ebb and flow with business priorities and will vary for each person and you need to accept that. This simple but powerful rule acknowledges the dynamic nature of entrepreneurship, fostering adaptability and resilience. Here’s the question for the day: How might embracing this mindset enhance your relationship with someone you work with closely?  The final theme was Pursuing your dreams – and the loneliness that comes with it, and pursuing your creams isn't just about dreaming big; it's about taking action, no matter how small, towards your goals.  It can be tough to forge an unconventional path when everyone else you know is on a different route.  Starting something new on your own is daunting, but having the right friendship group around, who support you and lift you, even if they are on a different path, is super critical to your success.  Consider this: How do the relationships within your close knit group contribute to your overall well-being and personal growth?  How do you hold each other accountable as friends?