True Business Stories

David has always been involved in agriculture through a long and varied career. A great story and one that shows the changing face of agriculture in Australia. 

Tim has had a love of numbers from an early age and this led to a passion for working across a number of financial institutions. He now leads the team at Bendigo Bank working with businesses across Western Victoria.

There has been a lot happening in the world over the last month. We chat about the impacts on business and some suggestions on what a business needs to think about now.

Alan started life in Ireland and with a desire to be a plumber leading to a constant education that sees him now running an innovative energy solutions company. 

James has had a long career in agriculture running both chicken and duck processing businesses. He now runs his own consultancy and is working as an advisor to WrkPod - his sons business in the Philippines.   

Nat has a great story on how he has become the driving force for development change in Geelong as the Director of Urbis Geelong. Nat is passionate about what he does and where he lives.

Jennifer is the CEO of the Geelong Manufacturing Council. Jennifer has had wide experience across Australia and Asia and is passionate about the potential for new and innovative manufacturing businesses.

Carmel is the founder and Director of the Proven Group,   https://theprovengroup.com.au/  that like so many businesses started at the kitchen table.  Carmen has grown from writing resumes to providing a full spread of HR services across Victoria and wider. A great story.

Nadja has a great story starting with growing up in East Germany and taking a Gap Year to see Australia and stayed.  A career through news paper media has led her across the country to Geelong and she is now the Editor of Geelong Advertiser. A really interesting story.  https://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/ 

Michael wanted to be an architect but ended up starting a computer science degree and ended up joining Gartland as a commercial property trainee agent. The rest is history. Michael has taken Gartland https://www.gartland.com.au/  forward including launching a digital marketing agency   https://www.affiliatestudios.com.au/

Lisa Sweeney as the CEO of Business in Heels is all about championing women in business and life. Lisa started her career with a degree in agriculture but then moved into retail in store operations and then buying women's fashion.  Lisa has taken https://businessinheels.com/ to new heights with a passion that is evident in this pod cast.

Fi started her career as a nurse, this plus being involved in health boards, led to her quest to better understand governance and to the founding of Govern With  https://governwith.com/  Fi is not only an incredibly smart and articulate person but her passion for good governance and her governance tools are a must for any board.

True Business Stories has chatted with over 70 business owners and leaders over the last year or so. We have loved learning about so many businesses. In this the wrap for the year we highlight the key learnings that we have gained and are relevant to businesses.

Bill Winter is the founder and other half of True Business Stories. He has a wealth of experience in running his own businesses and being a non - executive director.  Bill is on a path of continual learning and loves working with family businesses to help them meet their goals.

Aaron Finch runs DirectBor, that was started by his Grand father with a small boring machine. He now deals with major drilling contracts as the leader in boring.  DirectBor was the winner of the Business of the Year for the Geelong Business Excellence Awards in 2023.  A great story, sitting under our noses, here in Geelong.

Jarod has always had a passion about design and building and this path has now taken him to being the Director for the Plan Group delivering on exciting projects across Geelong and Ballarat.

Mathew has gone from playing brass instruments with the Salvation Army to being an Associate Director for KPMG in their new office in Geelong. Matthew has a passion for Geelong and is the driver behind the Economic Blueprint for Geelong.

Rachel Patterson was appointed General Manager of Geelong Broadcasters in January 2023, after a long career in radio. Geelong Broadcaster keep us informed and entertained via Bay 93.9FM and K Rock.  Rachel would be one of the nicest people you could ever meet. Enjoy listening.

Kody Thompson has a fascinating story.  Raised in Country Victoria and starting out as a youth Pastor, Kody has used his passion and values to create an outstanding business in the Philippines. Enjoy listening to his journey. 

As one half of the True Business Stories podcast team, Bill Winter wanted to do a more thorough interview. Mark grew up in India and has had a long retail career and now enjoys helping other businesses.  

Xavier grew up on the family farm and then headed off over seas to travel and work in  many different industries. He came back to farming and his desire to ensure his practices are sustainable has led to his free range chicken business. A story of determination and passion.

Gail has had a great journey working across roles in many well known brands in business and aviation. Gail now runs the Geelong Community Foundation and brilliant concept that through sound investment of donations and bequeaths can make grants to help the community.

Tim found him self in his early twenties thrust into running the family business due to the poor health of his Father. Tim has a great story of making every opportunity to learn and recognising he needs to reach out to others to help him self grow.

Lyndal has had a fascinating journey as a teacher across a wide range of roles in schools and business and across the world. Her quest to make learning accessible for all has led to her own business making engaging, inclusive and accessible learning design outcomes for businesses, not-for-profit and government organisations. 

Robert started life wanting to be an architect and his journey has presented many opportunities. He started his own business after being told by his family 'why don't you - rather than work for someone else'. Another interesting journey.