The Growth Equation

What if the biggest obstacle to growing your business isn't your strategy but your relationship with yourself? In this episode of The Growth Equation , I sit down with Joseph Benjamin , Founder of Prophecy Brand , for one of the most honest and thought-provoking conversations we've had on the podcast. Joseph shares his remarkable entrepreneurial journey—from building a million-dollar PR agency in...

What if growing your business didn't mean hiring more people or offering more services? In this episode of The Growth Equation , I sit down with Katy Boos , Founder and CEO of Remix Communications , to explore why building a boutique agency has been the key to long-term success. Katy shares her journey from working in PR at Apple during the Steve Jobs era to co-founding a successful agency before...

What does it take to build a multi-million-dollar agency while navigating career pivots, raising four children, overcoming personal setbacks, and leading through constant change? In this episode of The Growth Equation , Tristan Wright sits down with Susan Thomas , Founder and CEO of 10fold , to discuss her incredible 30-year entrepreneurial journey. From earning her master's degree at just 20 year...

In this episode of The Growth Equation, I sit down with Michael Preece, owner of BNAA Tasmania , to explore a different perspective on business networking, referrals, and long term business growth. Michael's journey spans more than four decades in business, beginning as a professional photographer before moving into sales and eventually building BNAA into one of Tasmania's leading relationship foc...

I’ve seen many career pivots, but my chat with Jeremy Yang from Digital Goliath was a masterclass in "starting from zero." After thirteen years as a Jim’s Antennas franchisee, Jeremy walked away from a six-figure income at age 33 to become an unpaid intern in digital marketing. In this episode, we explore that humbling transition and how he turned those lessons into a high-growth agency, Digital G...

In this episode of The Growth Equation , we sit down with Renato Capasso , founder of Online Monkeys, to deconstruct a business model designed for the modern gig economy. Over 13 years, Renato has evolved from a solo freelancer into a strategic leader managing a global network of elite collaborators across the U.S., Australia, and Europe. He shares his unconventional "35% Rule"—paying significantl...

Too many business owners treat marketing as a last-minute afterthought, but my guest today, Anna Kennedy, is here to change that. As the Founder and Creative Director of Kennedy Studio, Anna is obsessed with driving bold ideas into the world without the "smoke and mirrors" often found in the agency world. In this episode, we talk about the reality of scaling an external marketing team and the disc...

I’ve been in the business game for a long time, but my chat with Matt Remphrey from Parallax was a masterclass in the "niche paradox." Matt has steered his creative agency through 24 years of evolution, but the real magic happened when he stopped trying to be everything to everyone. In this episode, we dive deep into how Parallax pivoted from a generalist branding studio to a specialist powerhouse...

Chanelle Le Roux built Ninki from a freelance copywriting hustle on Fiverr into a multi-arm content marketing agency and coaching practice. In this candid conversation, she talks about burning out badly enough to try selling her business, why she's now leaner and more profitable than ever, the South African outsourcing opportunity most Aussie businesses are sleeping on, and why perfection is the e...

Sonja Pototzki-Raymond has helped her clients generate over $700 million in sales — and she built her agency by accident. Known as "The Search Queen," Sonja is the CEO of The Search Republic, a 2025 40 Under 40 winner, and one of the most refreshingly honest voices in SEO. In this episode, we cut through the noise of the SEO world. Sonja has worked with Guinness, L'Oréal, and Nestlé, but she's her...

Aaron Witnish runs Content Only, a content creation system built around one simple idea: one monthly interview, weeks of content, zero social media stress. It's a long way from where he started, and the path to get there was anything but straight. In this episode we get into the real story. Business exits, team cuts, a partner's cancer diagnosis, and the accidental Zoom call with a bricklayer that...

I’m joined this week by Cameron Watt for a refreshingly honest conversation about what happens when you decide to "burn the boats" and go all-in on a dream. Cameron is an Australian–English film producer and director whose debut film, Project Impossible , hit cinemas globally in 2024. As the founder of Skie Video, he has built a reputation for producing premium, story-driven content for everyone f...

This episode features Katherine Tuominen, founder of Catalyst Brand Strategy — a boutique PR and communications agency working with impact-driven founders in wellness, health, and purpose-led industries. With over a decade in the game, Katherine helps brands turn complex ideas into clear positioning, credible media visibility, and long-term authority, blending data-driven strategy with human-centr...

In this episode, I sit down with Maria Kathopoulis, Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of UNTMD Media. Maria didn’t start in marketing. She studied political and international studies in the US before moving to Australia and co-founding a football training app with her husband, a former professional footballer. After burning between $50,000 and $150,000 on agencies that couldn’t produce clarit...

In this episode of The Growth Equation, Brendan Ellich joins me to unpack how a “why not?” freelance experiment during COVID evolved into BluFire, a Melbourne-based paid media agency now partnering with 7–8 figure service businesses. We walk through the whole journey: starting with almost no capital, juggling random client work, making the call to stop freelancing and build a real business, and th...

In this episode of The Growth Equation, Tristan Wright sits down with agency owner Maxim Claes to unpack what really happens when you hit burnout, get stuck in information overload, and decide to rebuild your business with more intention. As the founder of boutique marketing agency Media Waffle, Maxim now helps beauty and aesthetic clinics generate consistent enquiries and booked appointments usin...

This episode of The Growth Equation features Simon John Phillips, a true veteran who has been building Shopify brands since 2011. Working across the full e-commerce spectrum as a brand owner, agency operator, coach, 3PL founder, and fractional exec, Simon has spent 14 years inside the evolution of social-driven e-com. That experience now powers The Ecommerce Accelerator 5.0, a real-time operating...

This episode of The Growth Equation features Chris Hogan, founder of MeMedia Marketing Agency, reflecting on over two decades of experience in the marketing industry. Chris shares a candid account of the realities that come with building and growing a business—ranging from the excitement of successful projects to the tough challenges of mental health struggles and burnout. He stresses the signific...

In this episode of The Growth Equation, I sat down with Lex Stanley, the founder of Vastly Digital, to explore the real challenges and triumphs of entrepreneurship in today’s digital marketing world. Lex’s journey is refreshingly honest—from launching her business during the uncertainty of COVID-19 to realising the limits off freelancing and pivoting to building a scalable agency. What stood out w...

In this insightful episode, Tristan engages with Adrian Stewart, co-founder of Scale Messaging, to explore his entrepreneurial journey—from freelancing in Berlin to building a company that significantly enhances e-commerce conversion rates. Adrian shares the challenges and triumphs of growing a business from the ground up, emphasising the importance of strategic planning, adaptability, and underst...

Andrew Hatfield built Deepstar Strategic after 30 years across Dell, Red Hat, NetApp, and Portworx—moving from infrastructure engineering to product marketing. He's helped clients achieve 289% ARR growth and Fortune 500 exits by connecting Market-Product-Model-Channel fit. In this episode, we cut through the GTM noise. Andrew breaks down why most B2B tech companies are stuck in feature-factory mod...

This week on The Growth Equation, I caught up with Josh Berg from Hedgehog Marketing for a really down-to-earth conversation about what it’s actually like to run a marketing business these days. Josh shares the ups and downs of starting out with his sister, juggling a growing team when they were barely out of their twenties, and what happened when the fast growth train started to hit some bumps. W...

Richard Chalmers from Tailored SEO brings a candid perspective on growing a digital agency far from the big-city marketing hubs. The journey started in music, swapped guitars for business books, and continued through agency roles and a pivotal move to Tasmania. With few marketing jobs available locally, Richard carved a niche—first as a side project, then as a full-time commitment when old options...

In this episode, I have a fascinating conversation with Steve Mills, founder of Mills Motion and High Production Practice. Steve shares his entrepreneurial journey from freelancing and broad marketing services to carving out a highly specialised niche in the dental and cosmetic industries. What really stood out to me was how Steve and his team pivoted to a webinar-based model during the challenges...

In this episode of The Growth Equation, I had the pleasure of chatting with Sonya McIntyre-Reid, the driving force behind Linchpin Digital. Sonya’s journey is one of transformation and resilience — starting as a solo freelancer with a simple marketing concept called Kiss Marketing, then evolving her business through multiple rebrands into a dynamic, flexible agency that operates remotely across ci...