The Kismet Podcast

Lachlan Smale is the Strategy and Investments Manager at Kismet. He is also, according to his colleagues, a mythical creature.  Lachie has been quietly one of the most interesting people in the building since he arrived, and this episode finally gets him in the room.  He talks about almost (my take, not his) making it as a professional soccer player, investment banking in London and the app idea t...

Sam Armstrong is the co-founder and Chief Ecosystems Officer at Kismet.  He met Mark for the first time helping carry a very large tree up a lift in South Melbourne. He was the first person hired at Xplor. He was an electrician for 10 years before that, a personal trainer before that, and a removalist in London who moved Madonna, Jude Law and Ozzy Osbourne before that. This episode is warm, funny...

Adam Dicker has been at Kismet for three years - one of the OG's. He's the principal engineer and has the least internet presence of anyone who has sat in this studio. And he would like to keep it that way thank you very much. This episode is a delight. Adam is honest, funny and completely himself. He talks about being a first-time parent and an early stage startup employee simultaneously,...

Meet Dylan Verrier: Kismet's acquisitions specialist, serial community builder, and the person who sat outside his Bondi apartment with a handmade sign that said 'Here to Listen' the day after one of Australia's most devastating events. Dylan talks about the card game he built called Beyond theWeather, the overnight kayak race and the sand marathon he ran for Mensline, how an ex ta...

Meet Anna Latussek: software engineer at Kismet, freshly minted Australian citizen, and the person who accidentally ended up catering for orcs and hobbits on a mountain in New Zealand at 5:00 AM.   Anna left Germany at 19 and hasn't really stopped moving since. She talks about building a life in a country that is not your own, the years it takes to find home, and the moments that finally made...

Seventeen episodes in, it's finally time for the CEO tosit down.   Mark Woodland is the CEO and founder of Kismet, and thisconversation goes places most founder interviews don't. He talks about losing his brother Ben and about losing hisson five years ago during COVID and going to work the next day. About the three problems he needs to solve before he's done: healthcare, education and...

The tables have turned. This week, our host Carina Waye takes the guest chair, and Kismet CEO Mark Woodland takes the mic.   It turns out Carina has quite the story. Musical theatre degree, rejection from WAAPA at 18, Channel 10, New York, Jim Henson's carriage house, catering for billionaires in the Hamptons, and then coming home during COVID to start fresh in tech with zero experience and a...

Meet Simone Weston, Chief Performance Officer at Kismet,obsessed with the Navy SEALs, powered by a 5am ritual, and one of the most extraordinary people to sit down in the studio yet. Mon's episode covers a lot of ground. Her lived experiencewith domestic violence and the healing journey that followed. The power spectrum she created to diagnose where we all sit at any given moment. What we are...

In this episode of The Kismet Podcast, Carina sits down with Shanti Dhanaraj, who looks after Compliance and Systems at Kismet, for one of the most joyful, wide-ranging conversations the pod has had yet. Shanti is a theatre kid turned data nerd turned book obsessive turned flower person, and somehow all of it makes complete sense. They talk about growing up painfully shy and how drama class change...

In this episode of The Kismet Podcast, Carina sits down with Nat Kramersh, Kismet's Chief Operating Officer and our first exec in the room. Nat's path to COO wasn't exactly direct. After five years at a high-performing consulting firm, she made the deliberate decision to step back, take time off, and figure out exactly what she wanted next, on her own terms.  No job lined up. Just a vi...

Nadine Nasser-Eldin was 20 years old when she took on one of the worst performing stores in OPSM's national network, in the middle of a pandemic, and turned it around in ten months. In Episode 12 of The Kismet Podcast, Carina sits down with Nadine to talk about ambition, community, cultural identity and the kind of care that changes people's lives. Nadine grew up navigating the balance bet...

Josh Coulson has worked at some of the biggest tech companies in the world. LinkedIn. Deloitte. Atlassian. And then a redundancy opened a door he didn't even know he was knocking on. In Episode 11 of The Kismet Podcast, Carina sits down with Josh to talk about a career that has taken him from a printer desk at WorkCover QLD to building a team of 23 at LinkedIn, from consulting at Deloitte to l...

Jack Bennett did his job interview from a hostel bunk bed in Sydney. Three days later he got the call. In Episode 10 of The Kismet Podcast, Carina sits down with Jack Bennett, one of Kismet's earliest team members, for a conversation that travels from Zimbabwe to Cork to South Africa to Sydney to Cairns to Brisbane — and covers a lot of life along the way. Jack has been in Australia for over t...

In this episode of The Kismet Podcast, Carina sits down with Ross Widdows — product designer at Kismet — for a conversation that wanders through art, craft and the kind of creative restlessness that leads someone to build a pool cleaning business, invent a float tank ventilation system, run a furniture company and end up in tech — sometimes all at once. The thread running through all of it is the...

The Kismet Podcast is a show about the careers we build, the detours we didn't expect, and the quiet moments of fate that end up changing everything. Hosted by Carina Waye, each episode goes beyond the job title — into the real stories of ambition, pivots, purpose, and the hard-won lessons that only come from taking a leap. Whether you're deep in your career, starting over, or building something e...

What does it actually look like to find your own way of healing? In Episode 8 of The Kismet Podcast, Carina sits down with Rebecca Abeysiri from Kismet's customer experience team for a conversation that goes in some wonderfully unexpected directions. Bec came to Kismet via a biotech degree, a COVID-era hospital role and a science internship. But what she brings to this episode goes well beyond her...

In this episode of The Kismet Podcast, Carina sits down with Nick Upton - Integrations Manager at Kismet - for one of the most honest and unexpected conversations in the series so far. Nick's journey is anything but linear. From growing up in the Whitsundays running a family hostel, to owning a cafe at 19, accidentally becoming a DJ, and travelling the world - it's a story full of colour, chaos, a...

In Episode 6 of The Kismet Podcast, Carina Waye sits down with Kismet Customer Experience & Onboarding Specialist, Vanessa Hyland. Vanessa’s journey has taken her from hospitality and travel to working across SaaS companies and eventually supporting NDIS participants, providers and support coordinators at Kismet. But this conversation goes beyond career paths. Vanessa opens up about:• Leaving...

In this episode of  The Kismet Podcast , Carina sits down with software engineer Harry Travers for a conversation that goes everywhere - from mechanical engineering degrees and startup life to AI robots, cricket matches and the quest to learn Danish.  Harry’s path into tech wasn’t exactly linear. Starting out in physics, switching to mechanical engineering, then teaching himself to code in his spa...

Paralympian Don Elgin on Resilience, Identity & the Mindset Behind Elite Performance.  In this episode of  The Kismet Podcast , Don Elgin shares the full story behind his extraordinary sporting career - from growing up in rural Australia with a disability, to representing Australia across multiple Paralympic Games and winning gold on the world stage.  But beyond the achievements, this episode...

Most people wait for the perfect idea.  Dan Lombard thinks that’s the mistake.  In episode 3 of the Kismet Podcast, Dan shares the mindset that helped him move countries, break into tech, and build opportunities from simple curiosity.  You’ll hear about:  Why most ideas evolve after you start  The power of being genuinely interested in people  How small risks compound over time  Why action beats o...

In Episode 2 of The Kismet Podcast, Carina Waye sits down with Matt Trezise for a candid conversation about service, mental health, and what happens after life in high-pressure environments. Matt reflects on his time in the Australian Army, including his deployment to Afghanistan, and the realisation that what he was experiencing wasn’t “normal.” He speaks openly about seeking support, rebuilding...

Welcome to our first episode!  Carina Waye sits down with Justine Cabandong, Product Manager at Kismet, for a thoughtful conversation about identity, career pivots, and trusting your gut.  Justine reflects on her upbringing between the Philippines and Australia, her non-linear career journey, and the pivotal moments that shaped her path.  Together, they discuss the power of intentional rest, redef...