Johnny Yaps

In this episode I catch up with Julian Fayad, a tech savvy business operator who saw opportunity in the finance space to have AI do more for consumers. Julian and I became friends through our time campaigning together in the Federal Election and with that now behind us, it was great to just catch up and talk about life. It's funny how sometimes the smallest things you may notice about a person may...

In this episode I sit down with Rob Fletcher, someone I was fortunate to meet through my foray into politics. I didn't know this when I first met Rob, however despite having had terminal cancer, Rob felt strongly enough about his convictions that he would still campaign and do his best to shape the discussion in the lead up to the federal election in Australia. I only found out after everything wa...

In this episode I sit down with Inspirational Speaker - Peter Di Prinzio as we go through a whole range of stories that Peter experienced in his life. I really enjoyed having the opportunity to sit with him one on one as I've always wondered what the life of a public speaker was like. In reflection it's funny how he comments it's like 39 years of training to get to this point today.  I think it re...

In this episode I sit down with Lenna, owner of Alternative Fitness Wollongong and one of the founders of Southern Fighting Championship. Lenna used to operate out of a gym that I trained at and it was nice to reconnect with her and commentate the SFC's second event this year. You might appreciate that Lenna doesn't like talking about herself very much so I was grateful that she still joined me fo...

In this episode I sit down with Tully Brown, a striking coach at VT1 Academy in Roseville, NSW, Australia. I met Tully when I was commenting War on the North Shore 46 and this episode is a perfect example of why I enjoy sitting down with people to talk in a focused conversation to ask them about how they have gotten to this point in life. Never did I expect him to tell me about how he fought for a...

In this episode I sit down with Rodney Ellis from Southern Cross Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Cronulla, Australia. Apologies as in this episode I was on daddy day care duties, so our conversation did get broken up in sorts as I had to tend to the baby who makes her first cameo appearance on an episode. I've tried my best to piece it together so you may notice there is a little bit of editing in this episo...

In this episode I chat with Percival (Perci) 'No Mercy' Mwambi, an up and coming talent on the local MMA scene. I always find it interesting when I train with people to try and understand more of who they are as a person.  Quite often we don't really appreciate the depth of each person that we spend time with, whether it's in a working situation, common hobbies / interests, friendship circles etc...

In this episode I sit down with Elvis Sinosic, owner of Kings Academy, UFC gym Macarthur Square, ex-political candidate & ex-professional Mixed Martial Arts fighter I met Elvis through our time together as candidates at the Australian Federal election 2022 and as people may have heard me comment before, I have made friends for life in some of the people that were on the journey with me at the time...

Woo-eeh! In this episode i sit down with Jack Alexander Norman-Pottinger for a chat about life and all the tangential things that come along with recounting the stories and experiences that shape us. Jack is also about to make his pro-debut in the cage as a Mixed Martial Arts Professional. I think this episode has some relatabilities to life, in that sometimes, things are random, crazy, wild and a...

In this episode I sit down with two gentlemen who were performing on the streets of Hurstville. At the time I was doing some campaigning for the federal election and when I met these boys I thought 2 things. 1. They have talent and they were good at what they were doing 2. To have the confidence to be out on the streets evangelizing through hip hop must mean that it means a lot to them As such, I...

In this episode I sit down with James Mollison, someone I met whilst doing some speaking engagements throughout the 2022 Federal Election campaign. We go through some of the lessons he learnt in life, from almost dying at birth, to becoming the family's 'protector' through to a career in corporate advisory before encountering a major health crisis in Guillain Barre Syndrome. I can't begin to imagi...

In this episode I sit down with Jamie Coutts, Crypto market analyst at Bloomberg intelligence. Jamie started his foray into the world of finance as a stock trader for 'Porky' Morgan, with his induction including the bear market of the 90's. We cover a lot of finance talk, including discussions on cryptocurrency, policy, the GFC and I really appreciate the insights Jamie shared in this episode. Don...

In this episode, I sit down with Paul Vallejo a former engineer at NASA, as we go through a series of discussions across many different areas of science, philosophy and much more. Paul also details a life changing event in the passing of his brother and in a sense a finding of other purposes to achieve some of the things that may have more been his brothers goals than his. Now this conversation wo...

In this episode, I sit down with Linda Daniel, the United Australia Party Candidate for the seat of Mitchell in the upcoming 2022 Federal Election. I have been blessed to meet people from such a wide variety of backgrounds and careers in this political journey and Linda was kind enough to share her experiences that have brought her to stand as a candidate in the federal election. We go through a h...

In this episode i catch up with the Endre Hoffmann - the Dr of Self worth. Endre has lived an interesting life, growing up in Hungary we talk about the influences of communism in society and also the change when the regime changed as he entered high school. It makes me think of the quote 'History is always written by the winners' That said, Endre shares his story of chasing validation from his own...

In this episode I sit down with Natalie Dumer, a political candidate for the United Australia Party for the electorate of Wentworth for the upcoming Federal election for Australia (2022) I have met some wonderful people through this political journey I'm currently on and I always find it interesting to understand how people have arrived at this particular point in their lives. Natalie shares her e...

In this episode I am joined by Cass McCulloch, an interior designer, mother of 3 and all round beautiful soul. When I do these podcasts I never really know what to expect or what will come out in conversation so we cover a lot of ground in this episode. Cass grew up in Western Australia and shares her experience of growing up with her grandparents, getting bullied and then leaving school to attend...

In this episode I sit down with  @Kieren Lefevre Jiujitsu  and we have a wide ranging chat that starts with changing schools numerous times as a child to trying to joining the Navy to become a Navy Clearance Diver. We cover a host of other topics along the way from submarines to navy culture and I found this chat really intriguing as Kieren was only to happy to share his stories openly. There is a...

In this episode I sit down with Emi Tissera and his coach Joe Walker from Joe's Boxing in Five Dock, here in Sydney. This was Emi's first time on the microphone and although English is his second language, it's great to give him an opportunity to express himself and share his journey so far as he hopes to represent the Australian Olympic team at the Paris Olympics in 2024. Joe also shares his stor...

In this episode I sit down with Daniel Karjadi at the Benzin Cafe in Dural, New South Wales in Australia. Daniel shares his experiences growing up in Jakarta, Indonesia before migrating to Australia with his family. I really enjoyed this conversation as Daniel and I both share a love for cars and I appreciate him sharing his experiences running a business in hospitality throughout such challenging...

In this episode I sit down with Patrick Nguyen, someone I had known since he was a little boy of 8 learning Martial Arts. That said, I wanted to catch up with him and one of the things I love about the podcast is that it is just a snapshot of where someone is at in this moment of their life. A common thing people are always worried about is not being interesting or not feeling like they have achie...

In this episode, I sit down with an old martial arts training partner and friend in Alex Goik. Alex is a really intellectual guy so apart from being great at Jiu Jitsu, I really appreciate his insights into China and Chinese culture, given the amount of research, discussion and investigation he has down as part of his studies in formulating his thesis on China's social credit system. This conversa...

In this episode I sit down with Renato Subotic who is the head coach of MMAFFT (MMA Family Fight Team). In this conversation I could really sense his passion for mixed martial arts and in reflecting upon his story, Martial arts was a way for him to prove himself as a kid, gain respect but most importantly it brought people together. I think the commonality I have found in great coaches (like great...

In this episode I catch up with Adi, a father of five, who delivers customer service by day but has been working on his streetwear apparel brand at night. As someone who has always been passionate about clothes, I always enjoy hearing stories where people find things aligning for them to try and shift to things they have an affinity for. Not to mention Adi also has some funny stories from customer...

In this Episode I chat with Andrew McCulloch, CEO of Ray White NSW. Andrew and I met through some car dealings (naturally) and I'm really fortunate to be able to sit with him, ask him questions and listen to his stories. The one about the tattoo business in Bali stands out for me however I'll let you guys listen to it! Andrew embraces the wheeling and dealing life and I find that passion to be so...