Think Big Act Small

Over a varied career, Tom Schwab has built multiple online businesses and continued to progress his leadership skills. Today, Tom is Founder & CEO (Chief Evangelist Officer) of Interview Valet, the category king of Podcast Interview Marketing that helps thought leaders get featured on leading podcasts. He’s also the author of Podcast Guest Profits: Grow Your Business with a Targeted Interview...

Dominic Monkhouse is a scaling up expert, business coach and author of the new book ‘ F**K Plan B: How to scale your technology business faster and achieve Plan A’ . In the interview, we learn about Dom’s fascinating and wide-ranging journey from a technician to an inspiring and empowering leader, including leading some impressive fast-growing global technology businesses through significant chall...

The work of American author Jim Collins has been incredibly influential on my business career so far, and, it's been applied in many ways at The Physio Co. This is the first in a 3-part solo-series of episodes that explores 3 lessons I've learned from Jim Collins from 3 online sessions I've spent with Jim in the past few months. Today's learnings are based on Jim's question: 'Do we have 90% of the...

After starting life in Papua New Guinea & growing up in various parts of Queensland, Australia, Tom Reardon has created and impressive career in the people management and labour hire industry.  Following 20 years at AWX, Tom co-founded People Infrastructure, which he has helped grow into one of the leading labour hire and workforce management groups in Australia. Today, Tom leads a large...

Jon Hollenberg is the founder of web design business Five by Five, as well as the author of Love at First Site - A No B.S Guide To Getting Your Website Firing . He started life on the tools doing web design and now leads a team of 30 designers, developers and content marketers across multiple countries. In the interview, Jon shares the lessons of his transition from technician to being an effectiv...

Shannon Susko is CEO and founder of Metronome United, a Canada-based global coaching business that supports CEOs and leadership teams to grow their companies. Shannon has more than 20 years of experience building and leading high-growth technology companies in the financial services industry. She has been listed as one of Canada’s top 40 under 40 entrepreneurs, and her new book, Metronomics, will...

Shannon Susko is CEO and founder of Metronome United, a Canada-based global coaching business that supports CEOs and leadership teams to grow their companies. Shannon has more than 20 years of experience building and leading high-growth technology companies in the financial services industry. She has been listed as one of Canada’s top 40 under 40 entrepreneurs, and her new book, Metronomics, will...

Kirra Rankin is the owner and Chief Heart Officer of Capital Hydrotherapy in Canberra, Australia. A committed member of the Culture Is Everything crew, Kirra is a qualified exercise physiologist, former professional triathlete and coach of elite middle-distance runners. Consistency and a commitment to the ‘one-percenters’ have helped her grow Capital Hydrotherapy from a team of one to fourteen. In...

This short episode reveals the purpose of this season 3 on the Think Big Act Small podcast: to understand the leadership transitions needed for us leaders to create the time and space needed to build a great place to work.  A repeatable culture system as a foundation of a great place to work is non-negotiable.  So is the presence of a leader who is willing to learn the skills, build...

Paul Mead is Co-founder of She Maps - a social enterprise that exists to bring diversity into how we perceive science, and who does it. The She Maps team believe every student deserves to succeed with STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths), and that teachers should be empowered to help them do it. Paul is a member of the Culture Is Everything crew who is learning and growing to...

Steve Plarre, in his own words, is a proud dad & husband, a solid friend, a CEO & a muso (when time permits). Steve, with the support of his Dad and brother Mike, leads Ferguson Plarre Bakehouse. Ferguson Plarre is family-owned bakery and Steve actively manages the day-to-day running of the business, which consists of 80 retail stores across Victoria and an extended team of over 1000 peopl...

In today’s episode we learn from an emerging leader who is making the important transition from client-facing team member to an inspiring leader who has the time and space to support their growing team. Yves Silveira is a sports and musculoskeletal physiotherapist, teacher, clinical educator and a corporate wellness facilitator. Yves embodies the vital leadership and entrepreneurial skill of resil...

You may know Glen Richards better as a shark on Channel 10's Shark Tank Australia.  Returning for his second interview on the Think Big, Act Small podcast, we get further into Glen's back story, including how he transitioned from a practising vet to the managing director of Greencross Vets. This transition created more time and space in his life - as well as being a better leader and making b...

Welcome back for Season 3 of the Think Big Act, Small podcast! For this first episode of the season, we welcome back Mark Middleton from the Icon Group. In the chat with Mark, we turn back the clock to learn the detail of Mark's transition from founder, leader and technician of a small team in regional Queensland, Australia, to the inspiring, people-focused leader of the 3,000 person team he leads...

Welcome back for Season 3 of the Think Big Act, Small podcast! For this first episode of the season, we welcome back Mark Middleton from the Icon Group. In the chat with Mark, we turn back the clock to learn the detail of Mark's transition from founder, leader and technician of a small team in regional Queensland, Australia, to the inspiring, people-focused leader of the 3,000 person team he leads...

To round out Season 2, here's a collection of answers to the first question I've asked all the guests on our interview-style episodes: What's a big lesson you've learned from serving others? The list of guests and the episode they appeared on is included below if you want to revisit the full episode. 014: Chris Ducker – Business Mentor & Founder of Youpreneur.com 015: David Meerman Scott – Spe...

This solo episode digs deep into item #17 on the 'Culture Is Everything' checklist: Do you have a generous budget to show your love for team members and their families when bad stuff happens at home? Life has inevitable ups and downs - doing caring things for team members during tough times is a powerful way to strengthen connections within your team. It seems like the right thing to do (because i...

This solo episode explores the final item (#19) on the 'Culture Is Everything' checklist: Do you document your culture with an inspiring culture library or memory bank? There are so many wins, challenges, smiles, tears and lessons learned while growing a team with a strong culture; we need to document these memories as we go. I recommend you create an annual culture book (a yearbook dedicated to y...

This solo episode explores item #18 on the 'Culture Is Everything' checklist: Do you have a regular rhythm of parties to celebrate the milestones of your culture and to acknowledge the personal wins of team members? Where last episode dealt with life's troughs, this episode is all about enjoying the peaks. By turning off your 'filter for bad', you'll be better able to recognise both planned and sp...

This solo episode explores item #16 on the 'Culture Is Everything' checklist: Does every team member get regular and genuine appreciation from the CEO and / or senior management? Enjoy :) Check out Cameron Schwab's blog post mentioned in this episode: https://www.designceo.com.au/design-beats-discipline/ Download the 'Culture Is Everything' checklist at tristanwhite.com.au/checklist Subscribe to t...

This solo episode explores item #15 on the 'Culture Is Everything' checklist: Does every team member get regular and personalised recognition for adding to your culture? This checklist item helps ensure team leaders not only give feedback to improve performance, but also recognise when positive contributions to your culture are made. It's all part of including all team members in the rhythm of rec...

Today's solo episode is based on item #14 on the 'Culture Is Everything' checklist: 'Does every new team member get a memorable and supportive welcome on their first day?' A memorable and supportive welcome day is such a simple yet powerful way to get new team members involved in the culture from day one, and to ensure you get the most value from your recruitment efforts. We're now into the final...

This solo episode explores item #13 on the 'Culture is everything' checklist: Do you have a robust recruiting process to know when 'maybe' means no, so you only hire fellow zealots? Recruitment is a critical step in building a strong team. While there is no magic recruiting solution, I’ll share my learnings and recommendations from my 15 years of experience growing a team from 1 to 150. The key is...

This solo episode explores item #12 on the 'Culture is everything' checklist: Have you reverse-engineered your 3-year and 10-year goals to annual, monthly and weekly targets that are tracked at your daily huddle? Breaking down your vision into smaller increments, and regularly reporting on performance data at your daily huddles, is a powerful way to track progress and ensure you're on track to bri...

This solo episode explores item #11 on the ‘Culture is everything’ checklist: Is your culture reinforced with a short specific story of a core value being lived at every daily huddle? Sharing stories of team members living the core values brings everyone together and helps the team live your core purpose. The aim is to find specific, short stories that directly link to your core purpose. Share thi...