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Inspire Club Ep #38 - Ali Killaly
27 Plays11 days ago
In this episode of the Inspire Club Podcast, host Matt Manners chats with Ali Killaly — founder of WorkPants, career coach and advocate for designing work that truly fits. Ali shares how redundancy and motherhood reshaped her purpose, how humour helps her through stress and why the best leaders are great listeners. A warm, funny, and deeply human conversation about identity, courage, and creating workplaces that work for real life — not just job titles.
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Transcript
Introduction and Guest Overview
00:00:07
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Inspire Club podcast.
Ali Kalali and WorkPants Foundation
00:00:11
Speaker
Today's guest is someone who's redefining what it means to design work that truly fits. Ali Kalali is the founder of WorkPants, a career counselling organisation helping people navigate the twists and turns of work and life, especially through the huge transition of parenthood.
00:00:28
Speaker
She's a coach, educator and storyteller with a knack for using humour and humanity to make complex things simple and meaningful.
Recording Logistics and Weather Chat
00:00:35
Speaker
Now leading with the Inspiring Workplaces Awards across Australia and New Zealand with Ryan McGrory, Ali's mission is to help people and organisations create workplaces that work for everyone.
00:00:46
Speaker
For full disclosure, it's 5am in the UK when we're recording this. It's 3pm in Down Under where Ali is and leaves me nothing to say but hello and welcome to the Inspired Club podcast. Hello, how are you?
00:01:01
Speaker
I'm well, Matt, and good morning to you and thanks so much for having me. Oh, it's a pleasure. Absolute pleasure. So what how's it like in sunny Queensland? Or is it sunny in Queensland? I've just done a massive stereotype there.
00:01:15
Speaker
Well, yeah. I mean, I live on the Sunshine Coast, so you would expect sun. umlan But we're in this weird storm phase at the moment. So it could be thunder and lightning right now. I've got a shivering dog on my lap. Oh, no.
00:01:28
Speaker
the canary in the coal mine, as it were, telling me something's up with the atmosphere. But I mean, I'm still very happy to be here. How are things where you are? Good. Good. Thank you very much. Can't complain.
00:01:40
Speaker
Dark. um you know It's that time of year where just everything's dark all the time and in this part of the world. So I hope at some stage they ah change the whole daylight savings thing and just give us an extra hour hour of light back every year.
Inspiration and Leadership Insights
00:01:53
Speaker
so but um But let's get to you.
00:01:55
Speaker
um And and the and the one rule, if you will, of of Inspire Club is to share a story of someone who's inspired your work along the way and why. And if you want to share who that person is, please do.
00:02:10
Speaker
Yeah, great. um You know, it everyone probably has ah handful of people who've really inspired them. and So choosing the one person that's inspired you can be tricky because often it's these it's like a pinball machine and all these little nudges along the way you know get you where you need to go um But if I go back to my early career, I had this really fun job working at Elite Physique, which was a gym in Canberra in Australia.
00:02:37
Speaker
And my manager was Mindy Martin. And Mindy had such a great knack for, you know, that idea of people first leadership, where you have you truly are empathetic, put your people first.
00:02:54
Speaker
It's a collaborative relationship. And Mindy was so great for me, I think, because she encouraged me to solve problems in my own way, to be creative and inventive, but she was always there to listen if I got stuck.
00:03:09
Speaker
And I think that that was so empowering and valuable early in my career. Fantastic. So ah love the pinball analogy, the pinball machine and being nudged in different ways.
00:03:22
Speaker
Are there other people that you want to, you know you know, give a shout out to other than Mindy that have been part of that pinball machine? Or if not, we can move on. Oh, mean, yes, i'll give I'll give some other shout-outs for sure. i think Well, I think you know quite well my partner in crime and life, Ryan McGrory, and we met working for UE Insurance and ah think the we had such a great dynamic and still do, I think, and and what makes makes him so inspiring to me is that he's constantly almost like
00:04:00
Speaker
I'd say it's almost like he goads me into doing the things that I'm excited to do. He's like, I dare you. I dare you to do that exciting thing, to to use that exciting idea you've had. And he'll do the same. And so we're sort of, i suppose, spur each other on a lot.
00:04:16
Speaker
So definitely Ryan. And plus we have a lot of fun. And also i would say dave Sunderland, who ah I worked with ah around the same time at UWE. We were both learning designers and Dave was is of a different generation. ex-Navy.
00:04:37
Speaker
He had such a different worldview to mine and I ah really benefited from that dynamic and a really good friendship because we laughed at work every day.
00:04:50
Speaker
I love that. A different worldview to mine and how much you benefited from it. I mean, what i a lesson for right now for everybody in the world that we live in.
00:05:04
Speaker
I just wonder whether you might be able to offer advice in how Mindy helped you solve your own problems. you From a personal perspective, I love feedback. So I've asked my team for some feedback and um You know, I'm an okay boss i from from what they said.
00:05:20
Speaker
um But one of the things I think was I could be better at letting them solve some problems and and giving them space to do that. um So, yeah, I mean, anything from your experiences a Mindy or what you've learned along the way about how you can get out of people's way a bit more, I guess, would be fantastic for me and maybe other people listening.
00:05:41
Speaker
ah True. Yeah, that's a good point. How do you get out of their way? And the temptation can be, yeah I'm thinking personally now less about Mindy, but from my own perspective, the temptation can be go in solutions focused and help them fix it. And also if you're a bit of a control freak or a perfectionist, you're going to have your way.
00:06:03
Speaker
um But you don't really get to do new things if you get stuck in the old things and your people don't get to grow if you don't give them a chance to experiment. um I've heard of a great concept earlier um I'm trying to think of the workplace, but it's called Magic Moments.
00:06:21
Speaker
I think the governor of California refers to this idea, right? In one of his businesses, they had this idea of magic moments and and it was an award for people who took initiative to solve problems, even if their solution went horribly wrong.
00:06:35
Speaker
Love that. Right? and And so I think if we can remind ourselves how much satisfaction and meaning we get from work when we ourselves solve problems, do hard things, and grow from that, then we offer that to our people too.
00:06:53
Speaker
And so rather than before we go in solutions mode, we offer them some space, listen, and see if they harbouring a secret initiative, idea, or insight that they just want permission to share maybe. Yeah.
00:07:07
Speaker
Yeah. Fantastic. And sorry for just throwing that at you, but yeah. yeah The feedback's very, very, very real and and current. um So let's move on to, excuse me, um the negative experience that has gone on to inspire you in a good way.
00:07:24
Speaker
Yeah. I have a cracker for this. Let's hear it. Yeah.
WorkPants Creation Story
00:07:30
Speaker
all right All right. I currently have a business called Work Pants and it wouldn't exist if I hadn't gone through the negative experience at work that I had.
00:07:44
Speaker
um And that was yeah and probably six years ago now, I'd say. And I had just become a mum for the first time. And I was, i am somebody who loves work.
00:07:57
Speaker
I've always loved work, enjoyed it. And it you know, rightly or wrongly, it's a fairly big part of my identity, I would say. And so parenthood was a big, scary step away from that identity and myself.
00:08:13
Speaker
And i was nervous about it and had no idea how much I was going to love my daughter and how wonderful parenthood was going to be. um and and all those things, you know, came true. I love being a mum, but I also struggled on my return to work.
00:08:30
Speaker
ah There was some discrimination and experienced redundancy. And I was so ill-equipped to handle that kind of career plot twist with so much else that was changing in my home life.
00:08:45
Speaker
Parenthood was already a wild ride. So i was a turtle on my back through that. I i left that organisation. ah did have hope that the world was my oyster. I'd been there for a long time. I was probably ready, to be honest, to do something new. And this was a bit of a push.
00:09:04
Speaker
It just, I think it wasn't the nicest of pushes really. But The world was my oyster mat and I thought anything's possible. And then the world went into lockdown. Yeah, and so I was home with by my toddler and I just was totally lost.
00:09:23
Speaker
So i did a lot of things to try and prevent that from happening again. i i found a really lovely workplace, a great team. I felt really supported.
00:09:37
Speaker
um But for all that we planned, and think we have control over everything we don't. And so it comes around to having my second daughter and she's three weeks old when my boss flies up to the Sunshine Coast from Sydney to meet me in person for the first time because we were COVID colleagues, we were virtual.
00:09:57
Speaker
And it was great to meet her and catch up and chat. And, you know, i still had this C-section, you know, bandage on from having my baby Nina And she said, look I've got to tell you, we've we've been ah acquired by one of the big four and your role doesn't exist anymore.
00:10:15
Speaker
So I was like, oh, for all the best laid plans I had, it was a lesson that, you know, we don't control everything. But I was in need of agency and some skills to navigate that. And I thought I can actually help fix this for other people now.
00:10:32
Speaker
i can combine the tools and skills and knowledge I've got and i can I can help people in this stage of their careers. And so that that's how we got Work Pants, which is all about work that fits and navigating the twists and turns of work and life. And so I would say that wasn't exactly in a nutshell, but that is how a negative experience turned into something really positive for me.
00:10:57
Speaker
Well, that was that is truly, I mean, I would say a series of negative experiences um over a period of time. um And think, up makes me want to ask, tell us more about work pants.
00:11:09
Speaker
I mean, so what what is the positive that's come out of that negative? Yeah, great work pants is like my third child that I love talking about but just as much. So thank you for that question.
00:11:21
Speaker
but You don't have a favorite one, do you? I don't have favorites. In fact, I have a hairy one i have yet. So my two girls, Erin and Nina and work pants, I think, you know, it's almost a what's the way to put this it's almost um in devotion to them in a strange way because work pants is about helping people navigate career changes and transitions in work and life and about how we can tailor our career fit to what is needed in the world and what we need as individuals i think
00:12:04
Speaker
So it's it's career counselling, executive coaching. It is targeted to people who've gone through some kind of career disruption. we We love working with parents, particularly across that parental leave journey, because we have the lived experience and we know these theories in career development help at that time of a person's life when identity changes so much, the world around you changes so much, um but also other kinds of career twists and turns like redundancy.
00:12:32
Speaker
And Work Pants is quite a bold and sassy brand on purpose because we've got the soft and lovely motherhood stuff, but what I think we need more of is something bold, you know, fabulous pants that you kick the door through and and find your way with that agency to navigate your career rather than feeling you're constantly feeling adrift in the tide, you got a surfboard.
00:13:04
Speaker
So that's that's what work pants is for. mean, redundancy is probably one of the most inhumane things. ah you You suddenly become a number that you're being discarded and work pants seems to like bring back that humanity, that personal touch to it, you know, it's actually recognising somebody and what they're going through at that time.
00:13:25
Speaker
Absolutely. And you're right, it is a bit inhumane. Often, that feeling of being a number is the thing that hurts most.
00:13:39
Speaker
You know, on the one hand, it's it's the thing you can distance from yourself as a person and say, well, this isn't about me, this is about numbers. um But I think we're really quick to push people into silver linings and solutions mode. And I do think you need to hang a little bit in the discomfort and upset of a redundancy first.
00:14:01
Speaker
Because to pretend that it's not really, really tough just dishonours the whole experience and and how so many of us commit a huge piece of our lives to our work.
00:14:14
Speaker
I was going to ask what's one good bit of advice to somebody going through that right now, and I think you might have just said said it, but um because I think... if you read the news, um either it's either already happening or there is talk of, which might be inflated because it's the news and they like to talk things up a lot, um that there is a threat of more redundancies coming into the certain elements of some workforces because of AI. You've seen on Amazon and people like that.
00:14:45
Speaker
um So, I mean, yeah is there any extra advice you give to people who might be going through this process right now, have gone through it and still haven't been able to process it?
Life After Redundancy
00:14:56
Speaker
Yeah. So I think the earlier point was about give yourself time to feel what you're feeling.
00:15:03
Speaker
But then when you are ready to get into solution mode, this is this is where silver linings are really powerful because, It's rare in life that we totally wipe the slate clean and have all this possibility in front of us.
00:15:20
Speaker
And so if you can see that opportunity for what it is to completely redesign the way you work and live and how you want your life to be around the work you do, you know down to things like what contribution do you want to have in the world?
00:15:38
Speaker
you know That is a huge gift, a huge opportunity for somebody to end up in a better place than where they were. And if I look at my own journey from redundancy that first time when I was very unhappy in my role and in my team to having such a sense of agency and purpose and meaning in my work now, that's a huge gift.
00:16:02
Speaker
So I think if people can grab that opportunity, that's that would be really helpful. Fantastic. Great advice and and thank you. ah Where should we go next? um What's the best experience at work you've ever had and why?
00:16:24
Speaker
So you gave me some questions in advance, Matt, and I don't know if this makes me type A or type B, but I made a few notes and when I got to this question, I just couldn't stop laughing because my best experience at work is actually that I've been involved in starting two boy bands.
00:16:45
Speaker
um just want to laugh just as I was saying. Amazing. um And they were, I mean, they were so much fun. One of them was a tribute band to one of my colleagues who I've mentioned earlier in this episode, Dave Sunderland.
00:16:59
Speaker
It was the Dave Sunderband and Ryan McGrory was the lead singer in that band and um it was It was almost like a strange kind of employee engagement thing and it just became so much fun. They they but even did an open mic night and made it to a local music festival and I was their pseudo manager and everything. it was so much fun.
00:17:22
Speaker
And then the other boy band ah was a an NSYNC knockoff called Out of Sync. And i directed them in a music video um and that was also for ah an employee engagement thing. We were changing from a small office into purpose-built headquarters and so we were saying goodbye to Kiwana, which was our old office. So the song was Kiwana, bye, bye, bye.
00:17:47
Speaker
um And, you know, we had the CEO on the beach down on the Sunshine Coast getting involved and, um you know, the guys... brought their own costumes, like leather fingerless gloves and matching white shirts and everything. It was it was one of the best days at work I've ever had.
00:18:05
Speaker
Amazing. And i' I'm a little bit annoyed because, um it's as as said as I said, it's 5 a.m. m and I'm now going to be singing Bye Bye Bye all day long in my head, which is probably a a blessing and a curse.
00:18:19
Speaker
Will Out of Sync be making an appearance at the Australian Awards next year? jeez. I really should try and get the band back together. like the yeah the the members were...
00:18:30
Speaker
um like engineers, actuaries, marketers. It was just such ah an interesting group of of guys and and one of the best writers ever, Julia, who actually she belongs in the Inspiring Colleague Club too.
00:18:46
Speaker
um who wrote She wrote the lyrics. So, yeah, I really should have a chat to them about making a bit of a comeback, Matt. Well, do you do you think your career as a boy band manager is over? You've done two. Is is there a third and in the future?
00:19:00
Speaker
Three's like the magic number, isn't it? it Two feels incomplete. so yeah, I'm going to say yeah. yeah Fantastic. Okay, well, keep us posted. of as it everybody knows, listening to this podcast on a regular basis, this is my favourite question, um so it always gets asked.
Managing Stress with Humor
00:19:17
Speaker
What's the best advice you were ever given and who was it from?
00:19:23
Speaker
Yeah, this is a tough one because how do you drill it down to that one piece of advice? And I think this one is the one I thought about for this question probably speaks more to what I needed to hear rather than what everyone else may need to hear. But maybe someone out there needs to hear this too.
00:19:45
Speaker
um I remember a colleague who had worked in some really tough settings, you know, life or death settings, and we were working on projects together corporate projects, training stuff, and I remember him saying to me, you know, is this life or death?
00:20:08
Speaker
And every time he prompted me that way, it just reminded me not to sweat the small stuff and not to get overly stressed or anxious about things that can fail a little bit.
00:20:23
Speaker
In fact, it's often good when they do. so I think that was advice I really needed to hear. So I could enjoy the ride of work more. Yeah, um that puts it into stark context, doesn't it? When you hear that, is it life or death?
00:20:41
Speaker
um And more often than not, probably 99% of the time, it's thankfully not. Yeah. um Yeah, think I think I need to hear that right now as well, to be honest with you. The mind is playing tricks all over the place and actually, is it life or death? No.
00:20:56
Speaker
you know That really does help just bring everything down a few degrees and So, yeah, thank you both. Just thank you for sharing that. I needed to hear that right now. So, yeah, thank you. And were you able to share what profession that person worked in out of interest?
00:21:12
Speaker
Or you don't have to. um Yeah, he was in defence. So I think, you know, wife or death really is, yeah, the name of the game there. Yeah, absolutely.
00:21:22
Speaker
um Well, we have an inspiring advice book out now as well. um So we'll we'll keep revising it to include Ali's piece there. But you can find that on the Inspiring Workplaces website.
00:21:36
Speaker
It's about 26 guests sharing their own advice. And I think it's there's just gold in there. Stuff that land when you need it to land uh and stuff that you just take with you as well subconsciously so but is it life or death has isn't in the book um so it will be going into the book and um it really that's very powerful great great advice um um what do you do to beat stress laugh oh brilliant here
00:22:09
Speaker
Yeah, fantastic. And not in like a maniacal way like the world's ending, but yeah yeah, to that point about life or death, it's like, oh, yeah, it's okay. I can laugh about this.
00:22:21
Speaker
This is funny. Yeah. And managing it. Are there places you you go to find humour or do you just try and have a – try and just find the human and everything, just have that kind of general mindset that you've got to laugh at things, if not, you know, you'll cry? Yeah.
00:22:37
Speaker
True. So sometimes you want it but you can't manufacture it. um Playing with the kids is hilarious a lot of the time because they, um you know, they don't follow the rules and that's often the basis of good humour.
00:22:52
Speaker
um And I think I have a bit of a stash of videos, like reels on Instagram and things that I've saved that might be like a palate cleanse before bed if I've read too much news or I'm feeling too overwhelmed. So videos that I just know will always get a giggle from me. um I'm not going to ask. I was going say, um David Brent in the office, like um a lot of the scenes Ricky Gervais does in in the office, I find just so hilarious and ridiculous that
00:23:26
Speaker
that will usually give me a giggle too. So yeah, I think laughter is a great remedy for stress. What about you? Oh, no, I didn't think the question would come back on me. Yeah, no ah white I love humor and comedy. I think it is but is the best tonic. I don't get an out enough. I've been rediscovering all the stand-up comedy on Netflix and Prime and stuff. and let' try So it definitely helps just bring everything down again.
00:23:54
Speaker
i mean, we were talking about um before we came on air that I'm just, well, probably a couple of months in now, but diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. And, you know, I mean, we talk about COVID as well. you We just got used to that, didn't we? You just, you get a new set of circumstances, you you you you go through it, you accept it, and then you just crack on. um Otherwise, you know, life becomes a bit but more challenging. So,
00:24:23
Speaker
I find myself every morning not being able to really stand up, um which is a bit annoying, to say the least. And i laugh ah because if I don't, I laugh at the absurdity of it.
00:24:37
Speaker
And, you know, I go, look, people have got it worse. and and then And then I go, if not, because otherwise I'd just be angry all day. So I i found myself laughing. My wife then goes, you're okay? And like, yeah, no, I'm not going crazy. um' It's just, you've got to laugh at this stuff. Otherwise, what's the other option?
00:24:55
Speaker
Yeah, you make a choice. Yeah. So um yeah definitely finding the humor of things is is ah is ah is a great way to beat stress. And what I haven't hadn't really thought about, just like default really, is Back in the day, my dream job was actually to be a comedy writer, like on one of those teams, you know, like on Seinfeld or something, just being in that room, riffing with people, coming up with different jokes and ideas.
00:25:20
Speaker
But the ah the route to market, so to speak, was you usually had to be a stand-up to get there. Oh, really? I didn't really think that was me. so um so But you never know.
00:25:31
Speaker
wonder Times have changed, Matt, and and there's, like, another way in now because it it feels like, like, I know some writers were authors first, so they didn't have to do that messy, uncomfortable extrovert thing of going on stage. Yeah.
00:25:47
Speaker
But, yeah, I mean, much like my third boy band, I wonder if the comedy writing is is in your future. Yeah, well, I was actually thinking about it. Yeah. only a few days ago, which is probably why i'm mentioning it now. I'm going, actually, you know what? That could be a second, third or fourth act in my life at some point. you i' Never say never. you know We're going to be working until we're much older, i think. ah So know but maybe if the humor doesn't... Well, if I have the humor in the first place, that's debatable. Maybe there is an opportunity down down the road in the world that we live in.
00:26:23
Speaker
Without using ChatGPT, it's got to be my own. Yes. so um No, but thank you for asking. I wasn't expecting that. um What's the most important quality in a leader in and your eyes?
Leadership and Productivity Tips
00:26:40
Speaker
i think I think it's the ability to listen. And I think that's because it's a proxy for so many other things that come from that ability.
00:26:54
Speaker
right it It represents
00:26:59
Speaker
care and trust and interest and it gives you insight as a leader if you truly understand and listen to your people so I think yeah that's kind of the secret weapon of leadership in my opinion is is to be a really strong listener Yeah, but I agree.
00:27:22
Speaker
We've had few people say that in the past. I think it's just a fantastic trait to have as a human being, just able to sit there and let somebody talk um and and hear what they've to say. And then that obviously gives you so many opportunities. As you said, it's a proxy for other things. It gives you the opportunity to then listen and then go back and yeah and and and go a bit deeper. so Absolutely fantastic trait for it an inspiring leader, I think.
00:27:51
Speaker
um Right, so let's maybe get to some of our ah ah funner, quicker questions. Although, I am quite interested to know if you've got a go-to productivity trick, balancing things in your life and doing doing doing the work that you do across workpads and aspiring workplaces. I mean, you've probably got a few balls in the air at certain times.
00:28:18
Speaker
Yes. So I have a productivity hack that I ah tried with a client recently. So I was doing some executive coaching and
00:28:30
Speaker
The challenge was, you know, how do I find my way through all the stuff that I have to do? I feel like the day is so full and I'm spread so thin across it. And the we ran a bit of an experiment and i said, all right, let's try, pair the whole day back to three things.
00:28:48
Speaker
So forget the big long list with all the little faff, you know, a bit like that analogy with the jar and you put the big stones in first so you don't fill it up with all the little stuff. So was like, what are the three things?
00:29:00
Speaker
And then that was to redefine what an an achieving like achievement looked like across a day, three things only. And for that individual, it gave them so much more space and they were able to focus more deeply. They still got a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day without the feeling of overwhelm that often comes when we haphazardly just try and smash out a to-do list or don't even have the list and we're just randomly trying to achieve things throughout the day.
00:29:30
Speaker
So I think the three the three things is a good strategy. You may not be able to do it forever. it could just be a good experiment that someone could try, but I quite like that.
00:29:42
Speaker
I think it helps you just focus your time, your effort, your energy onto what matters most and it gives you permission to to then leave the rest for another point in time.
00:29:53
Speaker
Yeah, if you keep doing the most important things, that's a good place to start, isn't it? but If you still have 20 other things to do, I mean, at least you're doing the most important ones and it is reframing that you have achieved something that day. Yeah.
00:30:10
Speaker
And yeah, I ah keep coming back to that at the minute going, okay, well, actually, yeah, this has been a good day. My list has got longer somehow, but it's been a good day. We've we've done certain things and we've had certain wins and you've got to celebrate those things because when they happen, the good stuff deserves to be celebrated, whatever it might be. and i love the I love the reframing of it. lots Lots of things in life have to be reframed because of how we see them.
00:30:39
Speaker
And as we take it through. yeah um Okay, so um some of these are tricky, even though they're supposed to be fun. Okay.
Ali's Personal Favorites
00:30:48
Speaker
Favourite album. So, you know, just one you just always can put on and a song, a go-to song that if you need to get fired up, you put on the whatever music player you use. Yeah, okay.
00:31:04
Speaker
So I have two for this one because... All Fired Up by Pat Benatar is my karaoke song, right? So I mean, that if you're going to get fired up, it's got to be Pat Benatar. um But i I remember when i was first working on this idea of work pants and sometimes that was at three o'clock in the morning when I was nursing my youngest.
00:31:29
Speaker
And so I was just working on my phone in the dark And other times it was the really precious time I got where I could really focus. And I would listen to, it's a track um by Diana Ross and Tame Impala and it's called Turn Up the Sunshine. And I think think that music kind of, it permeated into what WorkPants has become, the brand, the identity, what we stand for. It's like hugely optimistic and empowering music.
00:32:00
Speaker
um It makes me feel motivated, confident, excited, and it it was a track I just listened to so much when I was really in those early days putting the whole thing together.
00:32:15
Speaker
So, yeah, it's it's much loved, yeah and I highly recommend it like I don't know by name, but I'm going to go look it up and also turn Up the Sunshine on the Sunshine Coast, no less.
00:32:26
Speaker
Exactly. It's just what a perfect match. Amazing. And All Fired Up, Pat Bennett up. I know Pat's an American, but that for me is just such an Australian song because i when i live when I lived down there for five years, I mean,
00:32:43
Speaker
that's when I became very aware of Pat Benatar. And i mean, ah the Aussies do love a bit of Pat Benatar, don't you? I mean, and that's one of my songs. That's when I was running my, training to run my 10K, that was on my playlist.
00:32:57
Speaker
but yeah I think my third song in, so just like that hard moment with, you know, there came Pat. Yeah. And she's got a good key change in there. It's like, you know, you it's like it got a slow rebuild and the key change that would be to just keep you going. Yeah, I can. It's a brilliant key change. It's great for running, great for running. Around that 10-minute period going, okay, yeah, all right, this um this will see me through to the get to the next stage.
00:33:25
Speaker
Nice. What's your song? Do you have one? like ah Well, that would be that would be up there. What's my song? Yeah.
00:33:37
Speaker
it's I mean, i'm just thinking about 10K players because it's just packed full of them. So there's there's one that, again, is very Australian. um And it's a cover version of Evie by a collective group called The Rights back.
00:33:51
Speaker
um And they did it for the Tsunami Relief in 2006. So it's got um all those different indie Australian bands from back in the day, like Powderfinger and stuff.
00:34:02
Speaker
So yeah, Evie is ah one of them. And then incredibly cheesy one is You're the Best from Karate Kid. Oh, nice. You say cheesy, i mean, no.
00:34:15
Speaker
Don't be ashamed of that song choice. I think everybody has a song that's like a secret shame. They're like, I love this, but I don't want anyone to know. I'm glad you you said one.
00:34:26
Speaker
You know, you're like, cheesy bit nuts. Yeah. I feel like I'm just the absolute stereotype NFL, American football viewer, because every time they come back to a new player or a new down, they start playing like Guns N' Roses or ACDC and just get the crowd going. I'm going, these are my songs.
00:34:47
Speaker
So, yeah, so anything you hear on the NFL, basically, that's one of my far up songs.
00:34:57
Speaker
ah And again, I always have to qualify this one, but not the best film ever made, but just one you can just watch, you know, on on a Duna day, just chilling out, relaxed.
00:35:08
Speaker
Favourite film. Easy. Bridget Jones. And I mean, all of them. I know that they're, you know, of varying quality, but Bridget is a character that I adore and I would follow her anywhere. And You know, in the latest one, I think she shows up to the school gate in her pyjamas and I've just never felt more seen and understood um by fictional character than Bridget Jones. So, yeah, I would say it'd be Bridget. I've stopped at the second one.
00:35:38
Speaker
um So and I need to Bridget Jones' baby and then obviously the fourth one's just come out. So I i need to or just come out and... free to view. So I need i need to go watch it. I was reading that it's Helen Fielding, isn't it? The the author. yeah it's actually I know it was originally, but the the latest one is quite semi-autobiographical in the sense that she's gone through that trauma and and built the whole life and again, hasn't she, I think.
00:36:02
Speaker
um I didn't know that about, I mean, Helen Fielding's awesome and I've read other books of hers too, aside from Bridget Jones. um And it, you know, I can see how given how
00:36:19
Speaker
emotive the stories are, even though there's a triviality to Bridget, there's still a lot of it that is so heartfelt and um insightful about people and relationships. So, yeah, I love that. I think Helen Fielding's awesome. World-class books and films, for sure. My um best friend...
00:36:41
Speaker
um who worked for an Australian insurance company, AIG, IAG. Insurance Australia, IAG. He was over, he brought his family over from Sydney only a few weeks ago. And when were having dinner um in the London Bridge up of the building called The Shard for those who don't know it.
00:37:05
Speaker
And his son's a mad Harry Potter fan. And near near that building, in Borough Market you've got a doorway which is used in Prisoner Azkaban.
00:37:18
Speaker
and yeah And so I said, you want to go see the door to the um Leaky Cauldron? And he went, oh yes, please, yes, please. So took him to the Leaky Cauldron. And then Meg, Steve's wife, is a massive Bridget Jones fan.
00:37:32
Speaker
And I went, do you want to go see Bridget Jones's door? Yes. Yes. So you had two generations, both things so excited within about 400 feet of one another. took these two doors from films.
00:37:46
Speaker
So but yeah for those that love either Harry Potter or Bridget Jones, Borough Market in London, That's a place. You've got two doors that you can relate to. It's the door she goes comes running out of in the first one to go chasing after mr that Mark Darcy. Mark Darcy. Yeah, but two iconic doors. I love Harry Potter and Bridget Jones and Borough Markets as well for all those reasons. Oh, that's brilliant.
00:38:10
Speaker
Fantastic. And so, Matt, you worked in Australia for a while. You've you've got a fair few Aussie mates, haven't you? Yeah. Well, do I mean... I would say majority of my friends are Australian, which is a slight problem. but Geographical.
00:38:28
Speaker
in In the sense of that they're like 10,000 miles away. So it was a ah period of my life that I loved. I was young and stupid and didn't get my permanent residency.
00:38:39
Speaker
And I came, all my Australian friends wanted to do London. So I left Australia came to London, and like like an Australian in some respects. um They could all go back and um and I couldn't. So I timed it for the like the financial crash um in 08. And ah that was my moment when I realised that I hated what I did.
00:39:04
Speaker
So I didn't love Australia more than the the career, i how much hate I had for my career. Right. Which don't if it was the right or wrong answer. So it took me about five or six years to get over that actually because I hadn't but I couldn't put that dream to bed.
00:39:21
Speaker
um But, you know, so I probably should have done something a bit quicker than taking five or six years. But it was a real big life changing moment. All my friends are Australian, essentially. I've got, so I'm in WhatsApp group. So I always wake up to a lot of messages from a lot of idiots who seemingly haven't grown up 20 years on this. They're still exactly the same.
00:39:43
Speaker
Haven't grown up individual males. Yeah. How fortunate that you have such a good reason to come down to Australia at least once a year for a big award party and, you know, potentially see some of your mates at the same time.
00:39:58
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. I can't wait. So I always put myself in a neighborhood that is when I would say zero x tourists go to and everybody goes, why are you going there? And it's because I go within five minute walk from my friend. so So I can't wait. So looking forward to June. June the 5th, I think is the date of the Australian awards, Australian New Zealand awards.
00:40:23
Speaker
So looking forward to getting back down there. But yeah, an amazing part of the world. Amazing people, in my humble opinion. um More friendly than us English people, that's what going to say.
00:40:37
Speaker
um So anyway, um we've done a favourite
Future Guest Suggestion
00:40:41
Speaker
film, Bridget Jones. So talking about best places in the world, um where is the best place in the world, in your opinion? And if you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be?
00:40:54
Speaker
ah Yeah. Tough question. I have a couple and I'm struggling to sort of say the best. I mean, if I could be anywhere in the world right now, I love our home on the Sunshine Coast.
00:41:07
Speaker
I like that we're so connected to Brisbane, which is a bigger city, but we have a regional lifestyle. There's a lot of um things for kids to do here and it's a very outdoor lifestyle, which I think we need.
00:41:21
Speaker
We benefit from that. And the sunshine, you know, the vitamin d um But the first time i ever went to Kerry in Ireland where my father is from, wow i had a very strange feeling of being at home.
00:41:36
Speaker
And it couldn't be more different to the Sunshine Coast. But it is, it I suppose, a very special place for some reason for me because I had this sense that I belonged in a different way, you know. Yeah.
00:41:50
Speaker
um So I think, yeah, where do I want to be? i love the Sunshine Coast. I think Kerry in Ireland is wonderful. My mum's Italian. I love Italy. I've been a couple of times, would happily go back any time there was a reason to.
00:42:05
Speaker
um But, yeah, I also think there's probably more of the world to explore so I can answer that question more completely. I mean, I've seen um seen some places but I haven't seen all of it.
00:42:16
Speaker
Yeah. What would you say is your question?
00:42:20
Speaker
Well, Sydney, for you know for a long time. I'm lucky to have a ah ah few that are just ah amazing in different ways. So Gwendovald in the Swiss Alps, Sydney, Kerry. So I want to know where in Kerry you went. Tralee.
00:42:39
Speaker
Tralee. Tralee, yes. Fantastic. Okay, yeah. please truly yes i' fantastictic okay yeah Ken Mayer is, so I'm currently going through my citizenship for for Ireland because my dad's side's all Irish yeah um from the Dublin area and um maybe looking potentially to actually move to Kerry.
00:43:01
Speaker
Oh, wow. It's a bit closer than Australia. um Yeah, fair. And I think I see a lot of, and Again, this is my own personal opinion. I see a lot of um similarities between the Irish and the Australian people.
00:43:18
Speaker
The warmth and friendly, welcoming nature of them. um And yeah, I felt like I belonged in Australia and I felt that I'm in Kerry as well. so um So, yeah, those Sydney and Kenmare and Kerry, I mean, two different places, but both on the water, both beautiful, both packed full of great people. So, you know, yeah, very, very different.
00:43:45
Speaker
Interesting that you said Kerry because, yeah, it's an amazing part of the world. Two votes for Kerry. Last question. Who would you recommend we we have on this podcast? and I must do a better job of – getting some of the people that are recommended on the podcast, but we've just got such a great line of- Yeah, heaps of good recommendations.
00:44:07
Speaker
Yeah. Well, I mean, you just asked me about best places in the world. A wonderful Kerry woman um I would recommend is Tara Daly, and she is ah works at Tax Traders, who is one of the inspiring workplaces from New Zealand.
00:44:25
Speaker
Yeah. heard her talk at the People First Summit, about the work they're doing. ah had a great chat with her at the 2025 Awards lunch.
00:44:36
Speaker
She's fascinating. She's got great stories to tell. i think their perspective on how to build a great workplace is so inspiring and I think she'd be an awesome guest.
00:44:49
Speaker
Brilliant. What a great recommendation. And I remember having a chat to Tara at that lunch she just mentioned. So, um yeah, really good recommendation. would follow up with her. um So thank you.
00:45:00
Speaker
um Been a really good chat. um Is there anything you'd like to add before we we sign off this episode? Well, I mean, thank you very much for having me. Thanks for a great chat. Thanks for letting me ask a few questions as well.
00:45:14
Speaker
and um And I hope that the rest of the day is good for you as my day winds down and your day just gets started. I hope it's a good one, Matt. Well, no, absolute pleasure. um And thanks so much. Looking forward to seeing you next year, but talking, I'm sure, lots in between.
00:45:31
Speaker
um And yeah, thanks for but asking some questions. I hope I gave some good answers. So anyway, thanks very much. Take care. And thank you all to listening. Continue to listen. and There'll be an episode dropping each week on a Friday.
00:45:45
Speaker
The Inspire Club will always be here. Take care. Bye-bye.