The PAX Hospitality Podcast

In this Happy Hour episode, Tim and Michael open with the December spiral — too-early Christmas parties, the pressure to “catch up before the end of the year,” and the collective madness that hits hospitality every November. Their thesis? It’s okay to say no, it’s okay to push things to Jan or Feb, and it’s okay to stop saying “Happy New Year” after the first week of January. The pair riff on the...

In the second half of this two-part series with Kate Hemat-Siraky from Zest People , Leon pivots from “boring but essential” compliance to the motivating half of People Experience (aka the dry, defunct term Human Resources) – Culture . They start by stressing that engagement only works if compliance is structurally sound – otherwise you’re “pouring into a bucket with a hole in it.” From there, the...

In this Happy Hour episode of The PAX Hospitality Podcast , Tim and Michael welcome their first-ever guest to the format: the endlessly fascinating and wildly accomplished Quentin Berthonneau of Oji House . Fresh off a two-month baking odyssey across France, Italy, and the Czech Republic, Quentin talks about travelling with his family, teaching masterclasses, and—no big deal—competing on the world...

In this episode of The PAX Hospitality Podcast, Leon Kennedy sits down with HR and people & culture specialist Kate Hemat-Siraky to unpack the relatively unsexy but absolutely critical foundation of a healthy hospitality business: compliance . Sitting in the Consistency layer of the PAX Pyramid (after Identity and Product, before Promo), this conversation is about getting your “house in order”...

In this Happy Hour episode, Tim and Michael shallow-dive into the deep world of pubs — why they matter, why they endure, and why we all seem to orbit back to them no matter our age or stage of life. Sparked by the opening week of Daphne and its promising early days community mix (martini first-timers, prams, young blokes, everyone in between), the meandering becomes a wider reflection on what grea...

In this episode of The PAX Hospitality Podcast, host Leon Kennedy sits down with Kate Bradford to unpack the least glamorous but most essential pillar of hospitality success: finance.  Sitting within the Consistency layer of the PAX Pyramid, this episode explores how financial literacy, transparency, and disciplined reporting form the backbone of every sustainable business. Leon and Kate walk thro...

In this Happy Hour episode, Tim Varney, Michael Bascetta , and Loren Daniels crack a Bridge Road non-alc and wade into award season — where Michelin, Good Food, and the ever-turning wheels of recognition are all up for debate. After a bumbling beginning, they take a sharp left and look at validation in Australian hospitality: who gives it, who needs it, and who’s over it. With Michelin reportedly...

The best venues don’t try to be everything, they just know who they are. When that clarity of identity runs deep, the product, the choices, and the guest experience all align without forcing it. In this episode of The PAX Hospitality Podcast, the team dig into the “Product” layer of the PAX Pyramid with guest Rob Libecans ( Caretaker’s Cottage , Three Horses ). They reframe product as the discipli...

In this Happy Hour debut, Tim Varney and Michael Bascetta shoot the breeze on coffee automation—from the romance of hand-made shots to the reality of rising costs, labour shortages, and the need for consistency. They map the spectrum: rock-bottom convenience (7-Eleven) at one end, high-touch specialty bars at the other, and today’s “weird hybrid era” in between—puck presses, auto-frothers, machine...

In this episode of The PAX Hospitality Podcast, hosts Leon Kennedy , Michael Bascetta , Loren Daniels , and Tim Varney tackle one of the most overlooked — yet defining — disciplines in hospitality: product . Moving up the PAX Pyramid from Identity to Product, the group explores what it means to be truly product-led — not just in the physical sense of dishes and drinks, but as a system of thinking...

In this episode of The PAX Hospitality Podcast, host Leon Kennedy sits down with Joseph Abboud (Rumi, Rocket Society) to unpack what “identity” looks like when you move it from gut-feel to something a whole team can use.  Rather than trading in abstract brand-speak, Joseph shares the hard-won process of articulating Rumi’s purpose—“to embody Middle Eastern hospitality with a contemporary attitude...

In this frank episode of The PAX Hospitality Podcast, host Leon Kennedy sits down with Phillip Spry (Director, Mawson)to demystify what happens when a venue slides from strain to financial distress—and how to avoid becoming part of the predicted contraction.  Rather than fear, the focus is clarity: a plain-English definition of insolvency (“can’t pay debts when they’re due”), the day-one reality o...

In this episode of The PAX Hospitality Podcast, host Leon Kennedy is joined by Loren Daniels, Tim Varney, and Michael Bascetta to explore one of the simplest yet most powerful frameworks in hospitality: the Pyramid. What starts as a practical chat quickly evolves into a deep dive on why so many businesses pour money into marketing without first building the foundation that makes promotion actually...

In our very first episode of The PAX Hospitality Podcast, we—Leon Kennedy, Loren Daniels, Tim Varney, and Michael Bascetta—sit down to introduce the show and share the story behind it. This isn’t a pitch or a polished presentation. It’s an open conversation about where PAX came from, why we care so deeply about hospitality, and how we want to help operators thrive through collaboration rather than...