Creating Synergy Podcast

Adam Vonthethoff is the current Chief Operating Officer at Adelaide Oval and works to implement the company strategies, supporting management and staffing teams, external stakeholder engagement, and looking for new business development opportunities and has been working at  Oval for the past 10 or so years.  Adam has spent all of his 25-year career in hospitality, having worked in hotels and casin...

Vincent Tarzia is the Minister for Police, Emergency Services and Correctional Services of South Australia, appointed in July 2020. He was elected to the South Australian Parliament as the Member for Hartley in 2014 and 2018.  Since entering politics, Vincent has been the Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Business Start-ups, and Shadow Cabinet Parliamentary Secret...

Rebecca currently holds the position of CEO of Civil Contractors Federation SA and an Executive Director of Civil Apprenticeships and Careers Ltd. Rebecca had worked in the civil, commercial building and construction industries for over 22 years, project managing in various roles before she fulfilled her entrepreneurship streak by starting her own consultancy company an operated it for 10 plus yea...

 Special Episode in the last Australian HR Institute (AHRI) SA State Conference, we had the opportunity to interview some of the attendees discussing all things the Future of Work. Listen to Daniel Franco interviewing 13 wonderful attendees of the event and was able to pick their brains on their thoughts about the future of work. Their responses were far and wide with some really great perspective...

Andy Keough grew up in Sydney, and always had a dream to serve his country. After finishing high school, he decided to join the Royal Australian Navy where he served for  two decades and built and illustrious career, which included the commanding of two Collins Class submarines and an exchange with the US Navy Submarine Force in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. In 2006, he was awarded the Conspicuous Service...

Erin Faehrmann is the Chief Executive of Youth Opportunities and a leading speaker on personal leadership and coaching to help our inner superhero shine. Her experience spans from the utilities  & public industries to the youth, education and the not-for-profit sectors.   As a kid from humble beginnings, Erin has a passion for working with young people facing complex challenges. She is known f...

Susan Stewart , also known as Sue is an out of the box thinker, a strategy, business transformation and change management specialist having championed major projects in multinational professional services, government and private organisations, including global design firms Aurecon, Woods Bagot, Hood Sweeny and Unispace, Ernst & Young and also Chaired the Change Connect Group for 7 years. Sue i...

Jamie Getgood is the Founder & CEO of Getgood Consulting and an Ambassador of The People Shift. Jamie specialises in Senior HR Leadership, employee redundancy and workforce transition, organisation restructure and rebuilding company culture. He bagged the Australian Leader of the Year award in 2017, as well as multiple accolades & nominations from lead leadership bodies, after contributing...

Sara Siami is the Head of People & Culture at SWEAT , developing and leading the people strategy across the organisation. Having been there from very early in the companies Journey, Sara has contributed immensely to the success of Sweat, helping it grow to be one of the world’s largest communities of women in the fitness arena. Sweat is an innovative technology company in the health and fitnes...

Steve Testar is currently the CEO and Co-Founder of Showcase SA, which supports and connects South Australia's business community, and showcases SA's industries, people and events. Showcase SA’s mission is to build business connections between members, allowing them to work together and prosper. With the defunding of Brand SA in June 2019, Steve saw the opportunity to continue supporting...

Francesco Vassallo, also known as Frank,  is the founder of  effektiver ppl. (which stands for - more effective people), where he works together with his clients providing them with bespoke consulting services in agile coaching, training, mentoring, facilitation and workshops.  Frank is a  Highly qualified Agile Coach and IT Delivery Leader with extensive experience over 25 years in public and pri...

Elaine Bensted is Chief Executive of Zoos SA which operates both Adelaide Zoo and Monarto Safari Park and has been in this role since September 2012.   Since being in the role Elaine has led an improvement in the financial position of this conservation charity and an increase in Zoos SA membership base from 26,000 to over 50,000.  She also led the work that culminated in the release of a 20 year M...

Cassandra Gannon , also known as Cass, is an Experienced Senior Leader and Innovation Specialist with a background across multiple sectors in mining, manufacturing, not for profit and local government.   Currently working for the City of Marion Council as a Project Manager and Performance and innovation leader, Cass Gannon is known for her ability to scan the external environment for opportunities...

Thomas Mitchell is a global biotech executive who has recently relocated to Adelaide, Australia, after spending time leading drug development programs in Boston, USA and Cambridge, UK. He works in an interesting area of medicine - developing microbial therapies for many gut-related conditions, including inflammatory bowel disease. Previously, Thomas held important positions at Finch Therapeutics a...

Leesa Chesser is a non-executive director, advisory board chair, skilled senior leader and mentor. She served as the Minister for Disabilities, Mental Health and Substance Abuse leading the NDIS decision making, delivery of service reform and transformation in South Australia. As Chair of the Public Works Committee, Leesa oversaw large public infrastructures construction projects such as the $450M...

In this episode, we have Stuart Snyder who, on his business cards, describes himself as an unemployed lazy bum. He states that this title gives him the freedom to do what he wants to do.   Stuart grew up in Cupertino California, a place we now know and refer to as Silicon Valley, where he went to school with what he describes as a "long-haired hippy dude" called Steve Jobs.  Growing up i...

Connor O’Rourke is the Director of Sales and a founding member of Nuago, a strategic IT partner which helps businesses transition IT by aligning strategic business objectives with technology solutions.  Connor has more than a decade of experience in the IT industry and has considerable expertise in all elements of Sales and customer service across market segments in South Australia. He brings a st...

As 2020 ended, there was a sigh of relief across the globe and high hopes for a more relatively normal year ahead. In this episode, Michelle Holland and Daniel Franco discussed the challenges and the best lessons for 2021. Michelle and Daniel also talked about moments they are proud of last year, achievements, and a great conversation about self-care and boundaries. Join the conversation on Synerg...

Mick O'Rourke has worked in varying business environments ranging from start-ups to the largest firms in the world, primarily in the computer industry. His roles have included project management, marketing, sales, senior management, and small business ownership.  Mick started as an engineer with Exxon in Alaska, then obtained his MBA and switched to marketing. He worked 15 years for Hewlett-P...

Adam is a consultant in strategy and organisational design, writer and video producer. He's known for having a deep knowledge of people and organisations and delivering this is in a way that is straightforward, understandable and practical.  He helps leaders who are both reflective and results-oriented create a strategy that will work and then build the capability in their organisation to del...

Paul is an experienced, innovative and entrepreneurial Board Director and Executive who has earned a stellar reputation for achievement during a distinguished career in both the Finance and Not for Profit sector. Paul has been acknowledged for his contribution to the Banking and Investment Industry by being awarded a Senior Fellowship of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia. Paul has al...

Matthew has more than 20 years of experience in starting and running high-growth tech companies, especially in the areas of machine learning, predictive analytics, and decision optimisation. He is currently the CEO of Complexica, a provider of Artificial Intelligence software for supply & demand optimisation, and a director of several ASX-listed companies.  In today's podcast, Matt and Da...

Bruce Djite is currently the director of Football at Adelaide United, a club where he as a player, won all domestic trophies with Adelaide United, including the Premiership and Championship double in 2016 and tops the list as Adelaide United’s record goal-scorer. Bruce has also represented Australia as a Socceroo and has played football all around the world for clubs in several countries including...

Ben Smit is an entrepreneur and highly skilled at growing scale-up companies and leveraging technology to solve human problems, with a focus on engaging team members to own and advocate the improvement process. He is a co-founder and CEO of Teamgage, software that enables team collaboration, wellbeing, and continuous improvement. The system measures behaviours and sentiment aligned to the strategy...

Jo Stewart-Rattray has 25 years' experience in the technology field, where she's worked in multiple industries and multiple positions and worked her way up to into Chief Information Officer roles and Chief Security Officer. She currently works as a consultant helping her clients through strategic technological issues and opportunities.   In today's episode, we spoke about Joe's...