Candid Conversations with Charles Hsuan from Flying Kite

Brendon Baker is the founder of Australian-based Valuable Change . Even as a young child Brendon wanted to work in business and entrepreneurship. He started his first business at the age of 8, going door-to-door washing cars. In this episode, Charles learns more about how Brendon perfected his sales approach. The key? Reading, experimentation, and failure. So what is Brendon's change philosophy? A...

Nadine Swart is iLead et al. ’s Head of Business Development . She might have fallen into her career quite by accident, but she’s since grown to love all things digital marketing. In this episode, Charles chats to Nadine about her pivot from client management to sales. And they touch on what it’s been like developing a department from scratch. The two also talk about the importance of family, frie...

Simon Brown is the host of the popular week-day podcast, MoneyWebNOW . He also runs the website Just One Lap and appears weekly on BusinessDay TV’s The Week That Was and writes a weekly column for the Financial Mail . This man has a passion for money and educating people on how to work well with their finances! In this episode, Simon shares how downscaling was one of the best financial decisions h...

Tamryn Dicks is the founder of an accounting firm, Pharsyde Solutions   Tamryn has created a company that collaborates closely with and actively mentors clients. With this approach, business owners not only uphold all legal requirements but actually see their businesses prosper. The strange thing is that she never actually dreamt of being an accountant. In fact, for much of her school career,...

Sage’s VP of Services, PJ Bishop , joins Charles in this episode. They talk about PJ’s youth and how growing up with entrepreneurial parents paved the way for his own business endeavours. PJ shares how he began working at a very young age. And he notes the valuable lessons he learned by being under leaders who were willing to embrace teachable moments. PJ has packed artworks for shipment overseas,...

Lebo Molefe is the founder of The Biz Plug . His aim is to help entrepreneurs operating in, especially, in South Africa’s rural communities to thrive. In this episode, Charles chats to Lebo about his move out of poverty and the important role books played in this journey. Lebo wanted to be a lawyer but circumstances lead him down another path. Instead, after school, Lebo found himself in hairdress...

This week’s episode serves up a tasty treat as Charles chats to Fred Roed from Heavy Chef . But before you go thinking this instalment will be all about food, think again. As the saying goes, “Never trust a skinny chef”. This is why Heavy Chef is in the business of equipping entrepreneurs through ‘bite-sized’ education that helps them become heavy hitters in their field. Think of it as ‘Recipes fo...

In this episode, Charles Hsuan chats to Kimberly Taylor, the CEO and founder of Loop. At 28, Kimberly also happens to be the youngest female entrepreneur to ever be interviewed on Candid Conversations. The two talk about Kimberly's childhood love of maths and current love of podcasts. Kimberly also shares how her desire for financial freedom influenced her career choice. And, she chats about the i...

Tim Ferguson is a Canadian living in Switzerland. He also happens to be the co-CEO of Audience Communication and Events. When he was younger, Tim wanted to be an actor. But, he instead found himself in academia. And, eventually, he ended up in corporate communications. As head of Audience for the past 17 years, Tim has built a love for helping teams communicate better. He functions as a speaker, t...

There is a VERY good chance that you, your friends and your family are employed by an SME, that is because they employ between 50 % to 60% of South Africa’s workforce, according to the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA). So HOW and WHAT are SMEs doing to stay afloat, what have they been doing to not only survive but grow? What is their approach to sales? In this episode, Candid Conversatio...

'We are a bit like Tabasco. A little bit of us, in the right places, makes an intense difference in the outcome of a project.' Joerie Schilders. Joeri is the owner and founder of The Magic Sauce. The company offers clients creative solutions to business problems. But, Joeri's approach is not simply around ‘design thinking, it’s about practical application and forward motion. To start, Joerie detai...

Anywhere between 60% and 80% of new businesses fail in their first 3 years of operation. In this episode, Charles Hsuan chats to Leanne Hughes about successfully navigating her own business's first 1000 Days. Leanne shares how she took an entire year to prepare before leaving her corporate job. Top tip: establishing contacts and income streams is as important as building up savings before taking t...

Austrian native, Petra Zink is the owner and founder of Impaccct . Her company helps professionals move from experts to trusted authorities in their field. How? By following the 3 Cs in her company’s name – Clarity, Communicate, Commercialise. Included in this episode, Petra chats to Charles about her colourful professional trajectory. She notes how she achieved her childhood dream of living on th...

Meet Leanne Hughes – the first Australian interviewed on the show! Leanne is a facilitator, trainer, and writer. She also hosts the illuminating First Time Facilitator podcast . But Leanne’s main gig is helping companies create ‘rave-worthy' workshops. Charles chats to Leanne about her childhood. She relays how her natural penchant for planning awesome birthday parties as a kid blossomed into a fu...

Pertunia Sibanyoni is the CEO of Inspectacar. She has also been recently appointed chairperson of FASA . Not only that, but Pertunia runs the AkhuPeliza Foundation and is mom to a lively 10-year-old. In this episode, Charles chats to Pertunia about becoming CEO before turning 40. They also touch on what it’s like as a woman working in the automotive industry. Pertunia shares how her post-Apartheid...

It’s Warren Ingram ’s second appearance on Candid Conversations! This time around, he chats to Charles about his new book – Global Investing Made Easy . This episode is a must for anyone interested in learning more about investment. You'll get a clear definition of 'financial freedom'. And Warren discusses how anyone can take control of their money – it’s never too late to start! He also touches o...

In this week’s episode, Charles chats to Ines Rosef-Ingram, CEO of Pine3 Marketing , a digital marketing company located in Cape Town. Ines has come a long way, both literally and metaphorically, in starting up Pine3. Having first moved to South Africa from Norway as a student, Ines fell in love with the country. Upon her second trip, she also fell in love with her now-husband and chose to call So...

In this episode, Charles chats to Stacy Hart, founder of Matter at Heart . Stacy started her content-creation business in 2018, and the two talk about the difficulties in overcoming the first 1,000 days. One key point: most problems have simple solutions. Knowing this can help get new owners over this critical hump. Stacy also shares some stories from her childhood. She highlights the role of her...

Joshua Cox is the founder and CEO of Fix Forward – a company dedicated to social upliftment. The business connects building sector-based entrepreneurs with potential clients. Through a careful vetting process, clients are assured of hiring a high-quality contractor. The company also offers workshops and mentorships aimed at growing its contractors' businesses. In this episode, Charles chats to Jos...

Anina Heyns is the owner and founder of Pretty Social , and she's pretty passionate about digital marketing. In this episode, Charles chats to Anina about the value of learning from past mistakes. Anina also highlights how a change in her career path led to her finding her passion. This episode also includes some marketing tips.  Tip 1: Use digital marketing’s measurability to build robust ca...

In 6 short years, Magriet Groenewald has built one of the leading social media marketing companies in the country. Magriet’s main aim with her business, Magriet.co , is to teach and help entrepreneurs – and others – to navigate the complexities of social media, turn content into engagement, and engagement into profits.  In this week’s episode, Charles chats with Magriet about her passion for...

In this episode, Charles Hsuan talks to the owner and founder of V8 Media , Jandre de Beer . They touch on Jandre’s history as a professional rugby player. Included is a story of how colourful clothing items made him stand out to scouts! Jandre then walks us through his foray into personal training. Here, he learnt that perception is key not only for standing out on the field but for landing clien...

This episode takes a bit of a different spin. Which makes sense when you consider Richard Mulholland ’s whole take on his industry is for it not to be boring. Join Charles and Richard as they discuss Richard’s early desire to be a stuntman, salesman, and actor. Also, Richard’s absolute childhood obsession with Michael J. Fox ! And if that isn’t interesting enough, they touch on Richard’s time as a...

Allon Raiz has worked as a business ProsperatorTM for over 20 years. He’s also authored two books . Through his company, Raizcorp , Allon assists entrepreneurs to prosper in their ventures. If a business (idea) is valuable, Allon is happy to help. In his view, a business doesn’t need funding to ensure success. Rather, enterprises need to be sustainable and run by someone dedicated. Allon establish...

Mike Anderson is the founder and CEO of NSBC Africa . The NSBC is the largest organisation on the continent dedicated to helping SMEs grow. He has a passion for helping people.  This passion feeds into the various avenues the NSBC provides to SMEs. Some of these resources include webinars, publications, and monthly business breakfasts. The largest event on the NSBC calendar is The Business Sh...