Don't Retire, Refire Podcast

In this episode, Paul shares how he grew his Dingo Software company from a small consulting firm to substantial business using his entrepreneurial skills. However, along this path, he found that he was spending more and more of his time in managerial functions, which was not why he got into business in the first place. Through personal reflection and guiding direction from his business board, he decided that he was not the best person to be the CEO going forward. Paul discusses the personal identity crisis that can occur with such a decision and the importance of having a plan for the next stage of our personal journey. This podcast again highlights the importance of purpose, culture and “lived values”, examples of which should be highlighted on a regular basis. Love Pauls parting words of wisdom, that the real juice of life occurs when we achieve things with other people. Paul can be contacted at phiggins@dingo.com

Having been diagnosed as a dyslexic at a young age, Tim found learning hard.  However, he had the good fortune to do a carpenter apprenticeship with a 65-year-old mentor who encouraged him to think in pictures.  This was a turning point in Tim's life. In fact, this skill of picturing has been proven to dramatically increase one's ability to learn and comprehend at levels unheard of in the past.  Organisations such as Lindamood-Bell have taken this learning process globally. In order to form pictures, the brain simplifies the message down to the essence, thus allowing you to see relationships that could not be seen before.   Tim used this newfound skill to complete a degree at university and now heads up a very successful specialist construction company. In this episode, Tim shares his wisdom about life, learning and growing as a team where curiosity, collaboration and human ingenuity comes to the forefront.  His advice is to view dyslexia as a sign of genius. Tim then goes onto share his thoughts about how elders could be valued and do social good as mentors in the future. ReFired Elders!

Tim can be contacted at www.erilyan.com.au

Alf first learned about ACT (acceptance and commitment therapy) from a neighbor of his, who was part of the SOG (special operations group - police). They are the equivalent of military SAS/commando unit, but in the civilian jurisdiction. They are deployed into dangers environments often associated with Bicki gangs, terrorism and rouge snippers - think the Port Arthur massacre. As you can imagine, SOG members are often deployed into fearful situations, where how well they manage that fear greatly affects their ability to perform well. He spoke glowingly about its impact, which stimulated more research on Alf's behalf. ACT is now being applied with great validated success by the military, business, athletics, religion and medically. In this podcast Steven Hayes - the founder of ACT talk about its various applications and practical insights from his latest book "A Liberated Mind".  Also discussed are ways out of the CEO/Executive/professional identity trap - "if you are, what you do, then when you don’t do that anymore, who are you?" A great listen for those in transition.

Steven can be contacted at https://stevenchayes.com/

 In this episode Wes outlines his experience as an executive in a public company.  Alf has known clients in similar positions who describe a culture of peer competition and combatants. Climbing the corporate ladder is more about not making mistakes, not taking risks, looking good, agreeing with leadership and taking credit for any progress that is made by your team. This common Australian corporate culture is often called "toxic" by business consultants.  A natural consequence of this competitive environment is little innovation, lack of flexibility and suboptimal behaviour as evidence by the recent Royal commissions. Wes then goes on to talk about a far more cooperative and supportive culture which he first experienced in relationship to work in the USA. At first these experiences of support and help can be seen as having an altera motive, almost suspicious! However time has proven this to not have been the case. This environment is naturally more interesting, stimulating and innovative.  You don’t have to look good all the time, and it’s ok to take risks and learn from both successes and failures. In fact this is the culture that Wes now talks about in his new company "Tomorrow super". Both Wes and Alf then postulate that a mindset of cooperation, rather than competition, could be a significant advantage to the unforeseen opportunities and challenges of the future.

Wes can be contacted at www.tommorowsuper.com.au

From being a RAAF navigator with a secure job for life, to completing a law degree, to being director of tax services at a major accounting firm, Shane has known change. In this courageous podcast, Shane shares his own emotional journey and issues with having a "Professional Identity Crisis". He tells us of the feelings of being a the top of your career, then plummeting into the depths of despair and irrelevance. For him it took a frank discussion with his trusted managing partner, then a sabbatical where he came to release he had to embrace his own mortality. This was a pivotal point and allowed him to create a new, more flexible identity, which enabled him to take on new roles in his transition to retirement. A move from "I" to "We", far more team-based rather than me based. He describes his new roles as far more fulfilling than he could have imagined. This is a podcast which most professional would benefit enormously from. Shane openly says that he doesn’t have all the answers, but is very open to having a coffee with anyone who would like to chat about their own "Professional Identity Crisis".

Rhys is a young man who had his heart set on making an impact in the world. He initially thought this might be through an organisation such as "Engineers without Boundaries", so he set out to study engineering at Monash University in Melbourne. What looked like a certain career path initially, turned into a ‘no go’ zone when he graduated at the start of the global financial crisis. Try as he might he could not get a start in his chosen path. Disappointment and sadness naturally set in. Embracing a growth mindset he eventually decided to experiment with other roles and ended up in a well-regarded law firm. Even though he was not a lawyer by training, he found that his double degree in engineering and arts could be repurposed to pursue this new career. He is now skilled in explaining complex insurance and superannuation documents to the public in plain English. He loves helping people make claims that they were not aware of and thereby often changing the direction of their lives. Rhys talks about being single-minded and stationary when he was continually rejected trying to get a graduate engineering position. However, when he opened up to other options and was prepared to try them out he found that new doors open that he could not have foreseen.  "A body at rest tends to stay at rest. A body in motion tends to stay in motion.” Clearly the skill of being able to change direction and repurpose one's training and experience is not just important for those in the 50, 60, 70, but also those in their 20, 30, 40's as technology makes routine work redundant. A great listen for all and very inspiring.

Rhys can be contacted at RChamberlain@mauriceblackburn.com.au, or 03 96052757, or https://www.linkedin.com/in/rhys-w-chamberlain/

Aynsley is a very well regarded and qualified certified financial transitionist,  who began her career as an investment specialist. She tells the story of reaching a point in her life where she wanted to make more of a difference for her female clients than just investing money for them. Particularly she wanted to help those who are at the point of a "Life Transition", be that through death or divorce from their partner. As such she undertook additional study to become a certified financial transitionist.  She tells stories of the fear, doubt and identity crisis that most of her clients experience from going through these life events. During these times she talks about the value of having a "Decision Free Zone" where one writes down all the concerns that the mind has made up, and then triaging these into 3 buckets of now, soon and latter lists. This process brings her clients much relief. She then supports her clients to get their affairs well organised and make important decisions about their life, and money. This is a must listen podcast for any lady who might be about to, or is going through the difficult experience of death or divorce.

As an experienced graphic designer Grant knows what it's like to create some new, which has not been done before. From an eclectic background starting in the sciences he studied engineering, then gravitated to printing and finally ending up as a graphic designer.  Through this time his skills changed and evolved from drawing on a drawing board to creating on a computer. He shares stories of "adventures in frustration" where he will often not know how to do a task to begin with - draw a horse, use a computer program, design a house - but will start with the attitude of I will succeed.  Then 8 times out of 10 he will fail on the first attempt. At which point he can either give up, or get back on the horse and try it again. Grant talks about the skill of "Controlled Arrogance" that allows him to try, fail, look at what works and doesn’t work, adjust and try again. Eventually he knows that there is a high probability (not guaranteed), that he will succeed.  This is a useful skill for anyone of any age, and particularly relevant for "ReFirees". It's also cumulative and starts with baby steps and grows over time. www.gggraphics.com.au

In this episode, we explore the options available by buying a franchise. Suzanne has a great deal of expertise in helping individuals to figure out if business ownership is a good fit for them, and especially whether buying or starting a franchise is an option and how that fits into their life. She takes an "inside out" approach of firstly helping her clients to discover what matters most to them in their life. What are their life goals, financial goals, and work-life balance goals? How do they want to be spending their days so that both their life and work are integrated and provide fulfilling experiences? Having done all of that,  Suzanne councils to only then start to do research on what type of business would support that life best. For most clients, this is a revaluation and provides an exciting next chapter for their future. Her closing advice is to keep an open mind and don’t prematurely dismiss options that present themselves. Give them some space to see where they might take you.

Gail is an author of several "personal experience" driven books. One of her latest relates to her experience around the age care requirements of her parents. Gail shares her lack of awareness of the complexity of the age care facilities, Centrelink, hospitals, legal and financial requirements. On top of this are the difficult conversations resulting from a parent wanting to maintain their independence. This is a journey into a world that most of us will, unfortunately, experience at some point, and it's mostly a journey that we are unprepared for. To have someone like Gail available to talk to us humans about what needs to be done, who to involve, how to move forward in a compassionate or orderly way, is a blessing. 

Gail can be contacted at gail@gailruthmiller.com.

In this episode Ingrid talks about the 5 stages of design thinking for our next career.  She expands on the role of fear in our lives and how this is revealed in our false assumptions about how we and the world are. These false assumptions show up in our story about what we can and can't do. Part of the solution to our story is cultivating and attitude of curiosity and being willing to experiment and try new experiences like talking to a stranger,  or taking a new direction to go home, and just seeing what shows up. Ingrid points out that design thinking is based on how most products are created and that often they are not what was originally intended. An example being the 3 M corporation and post-it notes. This way of creating the next stage of life not only lowers the risk through experimentation, but also makes it more exciting and interesting. 

Ingrid can be contacted at ingrid@mosaiccareers.com, and website https://www.mosaiccareers.com/

In this episode, Jon explores what he believes is a misreading of Charles Darwin's original quote. The phrase “survival of the fittest“, which was coined not by Darwin but by the philosopher Herbert Spencer, is widely misunderstood. For starters, there is a lot more to evolution by natural selection than just the survival of the fittest. There must also be a population of replicating entities and variations between them that affect fitness – variation that must be heritable. By itself, the survival of the fittest is a dead end. Business people are especially guilty of confusing survival of the fittest with evolution.   What’s more, although the phrase conjures up an image of a violent struggle for survival, in reality, the word “fittest” seldom means the strongest or the most aggressive. On the contrary, it can mean anything from the best camouflaged or the most fecund to the cleverest, or the most cooperative. Forget Rambo, think Einstein or Gandhi!

According to Darwin’s Origin of Species, "it is not the most intellectual or strongest of the species that survives; but the species that are best able to adapt and adjust to the changing environment in which it finds itself”. Jon and Alf discuss the implications of this misunderstanding for business and work of the future.  A future where the skills of collaboration, may be far more important to our success and survival, than the competition!

In this episode we interview an inspiring young man. Chris is now 36years of age, married with two kids and a mortgage. Since May 2018 he has been following what he initially thought was going to be his dream career - as a data engineer with a V8 Supercar team.  This career transition from his paraplanning business initially felt like the right move. However, as he experiences the reality of that new life, he realised that it was not all roses. There was an extreme demand on his time and long periods of time away from his family which he missed.  This is something that he could not have predicated up front, it had to be experienced. He now realises that he can create most of what he wants be returning to his old career with a fresh perspective. Now, rather than achieving to be happy, he is seeing if he can happily achieve regardless of what he is doing. Chris is a great example of building his way forward - taking action -  rather than trying to think it all out up front - which often can't be done!

David spent 25 years as a senior executive and Director of Smorgon Consolidated Industries which was one of Australia's largest family companies. Since then he has held a number of positions, notable president of the Western Bulldogs Football club, and the inaugural chairman of Family Business Australia. Today he shares his wisdom as a well-regarded consultant to successful family business, where he asserts that most family businesses fail for family reasons not business reasons.  During this podcast David talks about transitions in business and life. How these transitions are inevitable and bring with them both good news and bad news. Everyone loves the good news, but it's how we deal with the bad news, the failures, disappointments, that really matters. It's not what happens, but our attitude and how we deal with it that counts. He councils us to regard failure as a detour, not a defeat. Treat it as a learning experience that if we can accept the lesson can move us forward to new heights. Love the 3 fundamental questions he asks of any potential partner:

Who are you? (do I like you? - are you friendly, humble, do you smile, do you care beyond yourself) What do you stand for? (what are the beliefs, principles and values that drive your behaviour) Where are you going? (what do you want to achieve)

David also believes that most businesses, families and individuals could experience even greater success if they have written answers to these questions ... "the faintest ink is better than a distant memory"

His final lesson for my youngest daughter - and all of us - is you can only do so much by yourself.  You need the involvement of others to increase your chances of experiencing a fulfilling, meaningful and successful life.

David's website is http://pointmade.com.au/

Dr Weil’s is an organizational consultant, executive coach, educator and psychologist. For the past 35 years, he has provided guidance and support to senior executives, family businesses, and for-profit and non-profit organizations in the areas of values-based leadership and organizational culture, innovation, team building, strategic planning, conflict resolution and executive wellness. Gunther is 82 years of age,  and feels that he is just reaching the “Top of his game”. Many people in their 50’s or even 70's feel that their best years are behind them……… well, Dr Weil’s questions that belief. In this episode we discuss:

You can reach Gunther at https://valuementors.com/

This is an episode is well worth listening to over and over again.

In this third episode in the series, Kathy shares an interesting distinction between being a contractor vs a consultant. At its essence, a contractor fulfils a known gap in a business that has well defined,  predetermined steps. Whereas a consultant looks to add value by helping their customers to transform challenges into opportunities for progress, often without existing predetermined steps. She points out the consultants are effectively selling transformation to their customers, helping them to move from their current state to a new transformed state.  She then points out why someone would want to be a consultant and its appeal to those who want to make a difference, earn income and/or pivot into a new career. One of the biggest mental challenges that most consultants have is how to find enough clients. Kathy succinctly outlines how this can be done and talks about becoming a "Lighthouse vs boat" with the inbound enquirer, and becoming comfortable with using support software such as HubSpot.  She believes that this is one area where age and greying hair is an advantage and a worthy consideration for someone who wants to "ReFire". Lasts she councils anyone who wants to consider consulting to look at extensive data gathering from potential future clients and providing transformational experiences in a structured, systematic way (and doing so for yourself, also!)

Kevin is a 35-year marketing veteran from Kansas, City, Missouri,  USA. He is the founder and managing partner of Skopós, a brand refining and value building practice for small and medium sized private and family businesses.  It has helped clients not only achieve tens of millions in annual growth, but also materially increase the sense of purpose and fulfillment of the leaders and team members of those business.  If fact, that’s where Skopos process starts! It begins with the business’s purpose (why do we exist as a business, what good do we do in the world, why is our customer and community better off having us in business than it is not having us in business).  This refinement -(defined as removing impurities, increasing performance and value)- of purpose (P) is often re-energising for both the older and younger generations. Kevin then outlines the other P’s in his 4 P’s system - being People, Process and Position. Kevin enlightens us on how traditional marketing- online and/or offline -  is often more about “window dressing” rather than helping the business leaders to create really valued experiences that has their customers want to rave about them and share a good thing with everyone they know. He then shares his thought on re-applying your purpose to bring new value into the world for causes that might be important to you regardless of your age.  This episode is ideal for anyone wanting to bring purpose and value into an existing or new business venture.

75% of business owners regret selling their business one year after they exit.  This shocking statistic is why John Warrillow developed "PreScore" which measures a business owners current emotional state to exit their business.  In this episode John shares the 4 key drivers that his research indicates leads to this regret, and what to do about it. He talks about being pushed vs being pulled.  Creating a market for your business. How much your identity is tied up in your business and lastly how your staff will be treated when you leave. He also makes the point that existing your business doesn’t have to mean selling it to a third party, it can mean transitioning it to a manager, or the next generation.  This is a great episode for anyone that currently owns a business or may do so in the future.

John is the creator of Value Builder System - which is a process that helps business owners increase the value of their business so they can exit with more, or transition it to a manager or the next generation.  He is also the author of the international bestseller "Built to sell- Creating a business that can thrive without you. And the author of his latest book - "The automatic customer: Creating a subscription business in any industry.

"Value builder" is about how prepared the business is for sale, whilst "PreScore" is about the owner personally.

https://valuebuildersystem.com/

Kathy herself is a shining example of having multiple "Side Hustles" These are paid additional areas of work outside your main income earning career.  She is a career coaching, runs a "gig" platform for career coaches across the east cost of the USA, provides small businesses with marketing and digital strategies and lastly is involved in executive coaching.  She defines the purpose of side hustles falling into two main categories, income earning only or a "pivot strategy". Sometimes we need to bring in additional income to feed the family. Such work will normally use low level existing skills such as driving an uber car.  Other times we want to develop new skills to perhaps move into a new line of work that calls us and feeds our soul. These new skills can be strategically developed with a pivot strategy. She likes to think of this as wanting to go from career A to career C, however C can be very expensive and take a lot of time.  An alternative is to go from A to B using a pivot strategy as a smaller step to develop some skills and experience that might be useful ultimately in the work of C. Such a step also allows us to gain direct experience of what working in C might really mean for us in terms of fulfillment and daily joy. A growth/learning mindset who is experimenting there way forward can be helpful here.  Many people might feel that they don’t have enough time to develop a side hustle, in which case Kathy recommends a little book written in 1910 by Arnold Bennett called "how to live on 24 hrs" - a good summary of which is in Wikipedia. Kathy can be contacted on kathy@turningpointboston.com or her website www.turningpointboston.com.

Ross shares his wisdom which is drawn from a history of helping others in the worst of situation - murder, massacres, traumas.  He has seen the worst, and best of human nature.  His experience is that most people will experience a sense of emptiness at retirement. We can feel that we are no longer doing useful things, we can feel disconnected and purposeless. He goes on to point out that this is perfectly normal. However, such symptoms can easily be 'clinicalised' into misleading signs of depression in need of medication.  The impact of such medication is a numbing out the patient which can rob us of the discomfort and impetus to make change happen. Ross goes on to talk about the benefit of take the focus of ourselves and onto others, doing random acts of kindness on a regular daily basis, and its impact on the givers sense of usefulness and wellbeing. Lastly he talks about the value of developing a new "refire" mindset with childlike curiosity might enables us to explore new ways creating meaning, new ways of being useful, new ways of connecting to others. Basically, becoming a new human with purpose, and values worth standing for. Ross can be contacted on r.anderson53@bigond.com

In this episode Ingrid discusses her readings and experience around “Identity” - who we think we are.  She explains that in the USA, one of the first questions asked when meeting someone new is: What do you do?  By the way, I don't think that this is a phenomenon unique to Americans, it’s world wide! The answer to this innocent question typically defines who we think others are, and who we think we are. She then goes on to talk about the shortcomings of this mindset and how, when we transition away from what we have done for many years, this can cause a great deal of disorientation, anxiety and depression. She then reveals some simple tips to move past our self imposed limitations, so that we can more effectively “act” or “fumble” our way forward, rather than trying to think our way forward.  This is an important episode and worth re-listening to.

As a highly regarded Behavioural Scientist who works in both the corporate and sports world, Milo-Arne debunks the old belief that “You can't teach an old dog new tricks!” Milo-Arne explains that this old myth originated in the 1960’s when researchers believed that changes in the brain could only take place in infancy and childhood.  Now with improved technology it's clear that this is not the case, with groundbreaking new research summarised in the book “The brain that can change itself” (www.normandoidge.com).  It is now believed that functional and structural neuroplasticity - brain growth - is available to all of us until the day of our passing - even if that’s 150ya!  In fact the American Medical Association now believes that non-genetic Alzheimer's could be reduced by as much as 48% if we challenge our brains with new learnings.  However, as we get older a lot of us tend to avoid the discomfort naturally associated with new learnings. We tend to become “less curious” by playing it safe in our increasing smaller comfort zones, ,and as a result we don’t benefit from the brain's capacity change and grow.  This limits our ability to have new exciting experiences, create things that matter to us and enjoy the fulfillment of such involvements. Her final words of advice is that striving for perfection is foolish, and we should forgive ourselves often. Fail often, try often and nothing is supposed to be easy.  It's supposed to be uncomfortable, and if its uncomfortable then “lean into it” and at least try. Your brain will thank you for the stimulation, and your life becomes a daring adventure - one that’s worth getting out of bed in the morning for.

In this episode Ingrid firstly shares the history of the term ‘portfolio career’, which dates back to the 1900’s. This concept is not new or just a “millennial thing”. She then expands on why one might want to consider to bring this mindset into your own life, transforming it into a “portfolio life”. Ingrid has a diverse life herself, from a career counselor, to artist, to public speaking and her academic involvement with the university.  This interesting, stimulating and growth oriented way of life will become more common in the years ahead, and it is a skill that can be learned.

Kathy is a self confessed lover of what people do for work. She is fascinated about what they like and don't like about this important part of people's lives. Being an entrepreneur herself, one of her “gigs” is to lead a team of 70 career coaches on a platform called ‘Turningpointboston’ that she founded. According to well regarded sources, 50% of jobs in the future will be of a gig nature. Kathy describes the gig economy as existing in the space between full time employment and full time entrepreneurship.  Many people desire long term security in their employment, but given the nature of disruptive technology this is believed be be a long gone fantasy. The gig economy does take a mindset shift, but could be one of the most rewarding periods of a fulfilling life. At the very least it may represent a valuable risk management insurance policy. This is a great addition to our ongoing series.

Luke has a business called Modern Visual which specialises in consulting, marketing and technology. As such it engages with and employees individuals who were born after 1995 - defined as millennials. He shares his experience of working with millennials and what they are looking for. They are very digitally aware and often prefer that mode of communication over the spoken word. They are seeking higher purpose for their work and wish any business that they are associated with to have a purpose beyond just making more money.  He has worked Nick Riewoldt a coach from the St Kilda football club who 10 years ago used to motivate the players by yelling at them, but finds that today this doesn't work. Today you need to work with the players as a collaborative team and provide education to bring out their best. They are full of energy and if engaged correctly are a great source of continuous innovation. This is a great podcast to expand our awareness of an important generation.

In this episode Ingrid shares her experience on what makes up a fulfilling career. Most people tend to drift reactively from one environment to another which can sometimes lead to a fulfilling career, but mostly not. Ingrid encourages her clients to drive their career as if it was their own company. To deliberately design your career as if it were a piece of art. She covers the elements of a well designed career being

All of this can might seem a little overwhelming, however Ingrid's advice is to break it down into small steps makes a lot of sense.  

For more information Ingrid can be reached on https://www.linkedin.com/in/ingridgoldbloombloch/

In this episode we explore why it's important for business owners to plan their succession to next generation or staff, or their exit as an outright sale to a new owner.  Often the business is the owners “superannuation” plan. By this we mean that often business owners reinvest everything back into their business and little is saved in traditional superannuation for the ultimate next state of life.  Greg gives us some insights as to what drives value in a business and as such what can be improved over time to increase its value. He also talks about his experience with the emotional reluctance of a lot of owners to actually move out of their business in that they often have their identity tied to it.  This is a must listen for entrepreneurs and their advisers.

In this episode we interview an inspiring young man. Chris is 35 years of age, married with two kids and a mortgage.  With these perceived commitments most people would think that he would be the last person involved in changing careers.  As he discovered, not being particularly driven during his formal school years has not held him back from education latter in his life.  Chris talks about achieving top in his class with a Masters of Tax, something which most full time accountants have not achieved, let alone a financial planner.  Now, having rekindled a long lived passion, Chris shares how he is transitioning to his next career and how this is supported by a sound financially strategy. He then speaks of the unexpected positive impact this move is having on his current work. This is a must listen for everyone regardless of age.

In this episode we explore the life of a serial 68 year old entrepreneur.  Marc has to be the most well connected person I have ever meet. He talks about his extraordinary life and business career, time in the airline industry with TAA, playing and then coaching in his chosen sport, interviewing over 600 successful people in his “Reds & Business” events, from Golf ventures, to deep water game fishing, to starting his own gym- founder of the “boot camp” concept, to art leasing.  Marc believes that if you do what you love, then you will never work another day in your life. This to me is a fascinating interview with a very active person. Well worth re-listening to, and love his story for using a penny to have significant impact on yourself and others.

In this episode Stephen expands on his own values and why it is emotionally important for him to feel an alignment with the business’s “higher purpose”.  This was originally subconscious in his early days with Laminex, but is now a significant factor in his decision making process. Even though Stephen comes from a corporate financial background - where the general public would think his agenda might be all about short term financial return, he tells a different story of “feeling good” about what the company does, and being “proud” of that when asked at a dinner party about what he does.  He speaks of his recent interaction with Scania trucks on how he would be interested in working with them, even though he would be on half the income of his previous employment. Key point is that it's not just about the money, values alignment and corporate purpose are important. This message aligns nicely with Steve Samson's interview in episode 20 “The Impact of Higher Purpose”. Lastly Stephen has some suggestions for updating a resume and the use of a leadership coach in that capacity - an example being Anthony Youd's email:anthony@leaderfit.com.au

Starting his work life as a graduate in engineering out of university, Steve has had several career changes.  He makes an interesting distinction between a business that has been “corporatized” with its command and control leadership style,  where shareholder return on equity is the dominant focus. And a business that has been “professionalised with a soul” with its collaborative inclusive leadership style, where money making is in support of a higher purpose that does good in the world,  which more fully engages all stakeholders - staff, customers and shareholders. Steve quotes many examples of the benefits of the latter approach, including WholeFoods from the USA, which substantiates the validity of such an approach. He then goes onto talk about his attraction to both Family Business Australia www.fambiz.org.au  and recently Conscious Capitalism ww.consciouscapitalism.org.au. Lastly he talks about saying Yes to opportunities even if you don't have all the skills just yet.  Steve con be contacted at sdsamson54@gmail.com

After 30 years of owning a successful accounting practice, Harry transitioned his business to dealing with the undiscussables in family business. These include the often delicate subjects of difficult family relationships in a business environment. He makes the point that a well structured family business often has a competitive advantage from additional discretionary effort due to family relationships.  However if not well structured then the opposite is true and underperformance and family conflict ensue. Harry believes that as he approaches 70, he adopts a reverse marketing strategy with potential clients - often putting barriers in their way - to ensure that should they still proceed then their “willingness” will be sufficiently robust to sustain a successful journey through the inevitable discomfort of change.

Mental health and suicide is a major issue for Australian males.  In this episode Anthony shares his chilling story which should have ended his life 15 years ago.  Through a stroke of luck he survived and through trial and error has subsequently developed a process which helps him to flourish.  He now shares this through his public speaking and “The Life-Back Tracker” book. I believe that his process is not just for those suffering from daily anxiety and depression, but is a valuable tool for all of us who wish to ReFire and experience a  rich, full and meaningful life.

In this episode we talk to Paul Chippendale who started his career as an engineer with Telecom - the precursor to Telstra.  Paul explains the importance of his background as a engineer to what he is now able to do with human development.  He expands on an advanced methodology for turning the drudgery of work into an exciting and purposeful part of life that you can enjoy for the rest of life.  Paul draws upon the wisdom of giants such as Viktor Frankl “Man's search for meaning”, William Glasser “Choice Theory” , Steven Hayes “ACT”, and one of my favourites Robert Fritz “The path of least resistance.  Minessience of a world wide co-operative  that can be found at https://www.minessence.net/.  

In this episode we talk with Stephen about his experience having left his long term employer. We explore the reason he wanted a change and what he has done since the move. Stephen discuss the importance of getting yourself out there, “planting seeds”, and his new awareness around of the value of Linkedin. He then goes on to talk about deliberately putting himself into new learning environments and how this is producing new energy in his Refire process. This podcast is for those who are looking to change, or forced to look for new career experiences.

Ted has just turned 80 years old and is now fitter than he has been in years. He shares his experience in transitioning to an interesting, fulfilling portfolio career life which has him excited to get out of bed in the morning. He talks about “giving it a go”, embracing fear, being more entrepreneurial and being deliberate in creating what you want, rather than drifting and just accepting what is. A true inspiration for us all.

Tony is a well regarded TEC chair and has created a business called “The Culture Doctor”. He shares his journey from having a safe career as a school principal, then transitioning into a doctorate in the sociology of change.  He shares his research and insights into the value of designing your life rather than drifting. Living your life “Victoriously” or living your life with regret. This podcast is insightful for both individuals and business - teams, customers and shareholders.

In this episode Kat (20), and Alf (60), share their perspectives and take aways from the book “PEAK”.  Both agree that it provides inspiration that high performance is not limited to those that have the gift of “natural ability”.  However to do this our educational system needs to move from knowledge based to skill based, along with a different more focused approach called deliberate practise.  The exciting prospect is that each of us can do this as we have all been given the true gift which is the adaptability of our mind and body.

Through hardship comes pain, new insights and often opportunity. In this episode Terri shares her journey from financial planning, divorce, and now a fulfilling life helping people find their purpose and passion in business and in life.  Trick and traps around communication, relationship and emotional intelligence especially for middle aged men are highlighted, along with purpose followed by profit.

Through his role as a TEC chair, Harvey shares his observations on what happens to CEO’s and business owners as they approach succession and retirement.  He talks about the emotion of fear around their personal financial security which is often tied up in the business’s value, and about the loss of meaning in their life as one’s identity is commonly linked to the role at work. We then explore the power of being involved in a peer group.

Rick helps businesses to design differentiating marketing strategies. He shares his views on the world needing more entrepreneurial leaders who have learned the skills of creating value, serving community and ultimately leading lives that are personally significant. He also talks about an optimal life being circular, where we are both generative and regenerative.

Stephen has been with Davey Water Products for 18 years, rising to the position of general manager of finance and IT. He talks about the “family” culture that kept him as a loyal team member of Davey, but now reaching the point of wanting to moving on. He talks about his conservative nature and being terrified at the move.  In the face of this fear, he explore his higher motivation to “ReFire”.

Paul helps baby-boomer business owners with the exit strategies.  In this episode he shares the economic motivation behind why  large companies are actively seeking to buy small businesses.  The specific ingredients that make small business attractive.  A unique, yet simple tool call the “Pitch Deck” and its application.  And lastly the key question whether owner/entrepreneur is ready to move onto the next phase of their life.

Craig is a well know business futurist and innovation specialist. In this episode he shares his thoughts on of human jobs and task that will become redundant in the future, and those that will be created. He also talks about how a job for life with its associated full time work is disappearing,  and will be replaced by project work in the upcoming Gig or app economy.

Craig is a well know business futurist and Innovation expert.  In this episode Craig shares his thoughts on the future of work and how we are on the cusp of entering the fourth industrial age and its impact on the nature of work.

Alan describes his life growing up, moving to Australia and how he went about the sale of his business.  During this episode, we explore the hollowness of “pleasantville” with its allure of instant gratification.  Alan then expands on his life philosophy of doing something useful for others, which from the outside can seem selfless, but in reality is the ultimate in personal selfishness.

As director of Haycom, Alan currently takes a strategic role in shaping the company's future. "Over 40 years of delivering event services has provided Alan with a trusted reputation within the rapidly evolving events and multimedia industries. Providing Australian businesses with end-to-end, creative and technical event solutions, Alan has solidified the trust of an extensive list of clients through flawless execution, time and time again."

Jon is a highly experienced FBA accredited adviser. He helps families in business to resolve conflicts; improve family dynamics, communications and decision making; develop practical family and business plans, including succession; professionalise the operations of both the family and the business and improve prospects for being a long term, sustainable business family. Jon loves to help produce happier families and stronger businesses. His 350+ page book: “The Solutionist Guide to Family Business”, is widely regarded as the Australian “how to get it right” text for all types of family in business.

Welcome to the Podcast 'Don't Retire, Refire'! 

If you reject the notion of traditional retirement and want to continue to do something meaningful with your next chapter in life, this podcast if for you! You'll find ideas, tips and inspiration from experts, role models and authorities with host Alf Priestley.

Having spent over twenty five years advising CEOs, business owners and professionals on optimising their lives, Alf Priestley serves his clients and their families as an experienced adviser, coach and facilitator. He takes a particularly holistic approach, starting with lifestyle design and execution, through to financial integration and enhanced daily quality of life.