Thriving Business

Send a question or message to Kate & Sam Leading with Impact | The Power of Emotional Intelligence This episode delves into the critical aspect of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) as part of Quadrant Four of the Thriving Business Wheel, focusing on leadership and leading with impact. Building on the previous discussion about self-awareness, this episode explores how understanding and managing emoti...

Send a question or message to Kate & Sam Most leaders believe they're self-aware. The research disagrees — dramatically. In this episode, Kate and Sam dive deep into one of the most underused leadership skills in small business: genuine self-awareness. Not the "I know myself pretty well" kind — but the kind that closes the gap between how you think you show up and how others act...

Send a question or message to Kate & Sam Welcome to Episode 13 of the Roadmap to Business Success series, and the final episode of Quadrant 3: Grow Smart | Scale with Ease! 54% of founders are experiencing burnout. 75% report anxiety episodes. And two thirds have considered walking away from their business altogether, not because the business failed, but because they did. In this episode Kate...

Send a question or message to Kate & Sam Welcome to Episode 14 of the Roadmap to Business Success series — and the first episode of Quadrant 4: Lead with Impact! Most people think business failure comes down to bad strategy, poor marketing or the wrong product. The research tells a different story. The biggest predictor of small business failure — especially in the early years — is not what yo...

Send a question or message to Kate & Sam Welcome to Episode 12 of the Roadmap to Business Success series, and our third episode in Quadrant 3: Grow Smart | Capacity! Most businesses pour their energy into acquiring new clients. The most successful businesses pay enough attention to what happens after the sale. Did you know that it costs five to seven times more to acquire a new client than to...

Send a question or message to Kate & Sam Welcome to Episode 11 of the Roadmap to Business Success series, and our second episode in Quadrant 3: Grow Smart | Scale with Ease. Hiring is one of the scariest decisions a business owner can ever make. The compliance is complex, the stakes are high, and the fear of getting it wrong stops many people from doing it at all. But there's a compelling...

Send a question or message to Kate & Sam Welcome to Episode 10 of the Roadmap to Business Success series, and the first episode of Quadrant 3: Grow Smart | Capacity! Most business owners start with a skill or a product, not a model. They figure it out as they go. And if you don't design your model intentionally, your business will design itself, and it usually designs itself into somethin...

Send a question or message to Kate & Sam Welcome to Episode 9 of the Roadmap to Business Success series, and the final episode of Quadrant 2: Keep More | Profitable Operations! You can't outsource chaos. Before you bring anyone into your business, you need systems, clarity, and a clear understanding of what you're actually handing off. In this episode, Kate and Sam get practical abou...

Send a question or message to Kate & Sam Welcome to Episode 8 of the Roadmap to Business Success series! If you're only using AI for content creation, you're leaving the biggest gains on the table. In this episode, Kate and Sam dive into the AI tools they actually use in their businesses every day, and discuss how to shift from using AI to do more, to using AI to work less. "AI...

Send a question or message to Kate & Sam Welcome to Episode 7 of the Roadmap to Business Success series, our second episode in Quadrant 2 of the Thriving Business Wheel: Keep More | Profitable Operations. Pricing is one of the most emotionally loaded topics in business. Many business owners, particularly women, are significantly undercharging, and it's costing them not just money, but cre...

Send a question or message to Kate & Sam Welcome to Episode 6 of the Roadmap to Business Success series, and the first episode of Quadrant 2: Keep More | Profitable Operations! You've done the work to generate revenue. Now it's time to talk about the part most business owners avoid until it's too late: keeping it. In this episode, Sam takes the lead on one of her favourite topic...

Send a question or message to Kate & Sam Welcome to Episode 5 of the Roadmap to Business Success series, and the final episode of Quadrant 1: Revenue Generation ! If the word "selling" makes you cringe, you're not alone. In this episode, Kate and Sam get honest about their complicated relationships with sales and how reframing selling as serving completely changes the game. &quo...

Send a question or message to Kate & Sam "Marketing is the communication bridge between your business and your potential customers." In this fourth episode of the Roadmap to Business Success series, hosts Kate and Sam explore the next layer in the Revenue Generation quadrant of the Thriving Business Wheel: Marketing Strategy .  Now that you've nailed your business identity and c...

Send a question or message to Kate & Sam In this third episode of the Roadmap to Business Success series, hosts Kate and Sam explore the second part of the revenue quadrant: how to craft an irresistible offer . Described as the "engine" of your revenue generation model, an irresistible offer is about providing a compelling solution to a problem that people feel compelled to say &quot...

Send a question or message to Kate & Sam Welcome to Season 2, Episode 2 of the Thriving Business Podcast! Over the next 18 episodes, we're walking you through all the essential elements of business building in a structured way, based on our Thriving Business Wheel, with the following four quadrants: Quadrant 1: Earn (Revenue Generation) Quadrant 2: Keep (Profitability) Quadrant 3: Grow (C...

Send a question or message to Kate & Sam Introducing the Thriving Business Wheel: An 18-Episode Framework for Growth Without Burnout Hosts Kate De Jong and Sam Morris share a new 18-episode plan for the Thriving Business Podcast built around the “Thriving Business Wheel,” a four-quadrant framework that encompasses: Earn (revenue generation) Keep (profitability) Grow (capacity and scaling) Lead...

Send a question or message to Kate & Sam In our first episode of 2026, Kate sits down with Donna West , founder of Donna's Balcony Views and resilience expert to talk about ‘Life Quakes’ : those unexpected and brutal events or situations in life that crack your world open and force you to rebuild from the rubble. Life Quakes include things like workplace trauma, death of a loved one, misc...

Send a question or message to Kate & Sam In this episode of The Thriving Podcast , Kate and Sam sit down with special guest Maria Sandy from Bits Web Design to unpack what really makes a small business visible, trusted, and profitable online. Maria shares how she went from designing buildings in her previous career as an architect to “architecting” websites through design, local SEO, and revie...

Send a question or message to Kate & Sam In this episode, Kate and Sam welcome special guest Joanne Ross Wells , founder of JRW Bridal , an established custom couture bridal brand in Perth, WA. Joanne shares her journey as a global citizen from growing up in Rhodesia, spending time in London and the USA, being born in New Zealand and immigrating to Australia eight years ago. Jo then built her...

Send a question or message to Kate & Sam In this episode, Sam Morris and Kate De Jong dive deep into the fast-evolving world of AI agents, intelligent digital assistants that don’t just generate ideas, but take action on your behalf. From their earliest experiences experimenting with ChatGPT and Claude.ai to their recent exploration of agentic platforms like Sintra AI, Kate and Sam unpack how...

Send a question or message to Kate & Sam In this episode, Sam and Kate explore the five different types of small businesses —a framework Kate has been developing after nearly a decade of personal experience with different types of business owners. If you've ever felt like traditional business advice doesn't quite fit what you're building… you're not alone. In this episode,...

Send a question or message to Kate & Sam In this episode, Kate sits down with leadership expert and global Executive Coach Kim Lancer , founder of Tall Poppies Leadership , who is on a mission to help one million leaders lead confidently and "stand tall." Growing up in Australia, Kim experienced firsthand how the country's notorious "Tall Poppy Syndrome" encourages hig...

Send a question or message to Kate & Sam What happens when you combine crocodile encounters, buffalo hunting, and a submerged 4WD on a broken bridge in the middle of an outback river - with business ambition? You get Angus Dicker's incredible journey. Sam and I had so much fun in this episode! Angus Dicker is not your typical business owner. He’s managed to carve a life for himself in whi...

Send a question or message to Kate & Sam In this episode, Sam and Kate delve into the sensitive and often tricky topic of business partnership failures. Globally, around 70% of business partnerships end up dissolving. In a candid and honest conversation, Kate and Sam explore the challenges that arise in business collaborations, acknowledging that while “failure” is possibly an unfair term (bec...

Send a question or message to Kate & Sam Are you tired of losing sleep over your financial future? In this empowering episode of the Thriving Business Podcast , hosts Kate and Sam are joined by seasoned financial strategist Gayle McKew , who reveals how to transform financial stress into strategic confidence. Gayle shares her journey from a career in banking to becoming an independent financia...