The Stand Tall Podcast andydickinson

Lynton Howes, leader of giants.
 
As the Founder, and Managing Director, of Simplify LMS, and Adapt2 Learning, Lynton's current focus, is to bring efficiencies, and value, to small to medium sized enterprises, with his Simplify LMS portal.
 
An LMS, is an online learning platform, that ranges from the very simple, to the very complex.
I use Simplify LMS, for my online Mastery Academy, and with Lyntons help, have been able to navigate, what first appeared, to be an almost impossible task, to align my teachings, with the word press shop portal, woo commerce, and make it simple enough to use for myself, and more importantly for my academy users.
 
With extensive experience in eLearning, People Change Management, and Systems Implementations, and backed by a team of dedicated onshore and offshore experts, Lynton is uniquely placed, to achieve maximum quality, and value for clients.
Lynton is a multi-accredited, Project Manager and People Change Manager.
The thing that I first noticed about Lynton, is his attention to detail, and his patience.
Lynton can be contacted at https://www.simplifylms.com.au/
 

Gordon Gilkes Director Dancesport Confidence
The original architect of the Dancesport Program in 2006, Gordon’s extensive experience and knowledge of 40 years of dancing has helped him create the fantastic program and team that delivers the Dancesport Well being experience. "We started with 180 students in 2006 and now in 2018 teach over 9000 students each week."
Gordon represented Australia in the final of the1995 World Grand Prix. Other dance achievements include 17th in the World Ballroom Championships, 6 times South Pacific Champion, Australian and Australasia Champion. Gordon is the President of Dancesport Australia, the governing body for the World Dancesport Federation in Australia. Gordon is qualified as an international Adjudicator.
"Whether representing my country in the World Championships or competing on Dancing with the Stars with Olympian Legend Dawn Fraser… nothing has been more inspiring, more uplifting or fulfilling for me, than achieving such positive development of confidence, trust and respect between children through Dancesport Confidence. To experience the impact of developing confidence and social skills in children is to witness the fabric of their world change to a new level."

My Next guest is Ed White. Ed has spent a little over 40 years obsessing about running fast. In his heyday Ed represented Britain as a 200 metre and 400 metre runner, with his most prestigious moment being selected as the “first leg“ runner of Britain’s 4x400 metre relay team at the 2000 European Championships.
Now, some 20 years later, he still applies his craft, and competes as a Masters athlete on the international circuit.
At home, you are a proud father of 4 and, for a crust, you worked in commercial real estate as a sales mentor and now runs his own business motivation consultancy.
Ed has been a member of Northstar Jujitsu, since its early inception and achieved his 2nd Dan back in 2012. He describes completing his 1st Dan as one of his greatest achievements and moments in life.
By his own admission Ed is no stranger to the duality of life, with its trials and tribulations. But searching for a better way remains his quest. Contact Ed: e.b.w.white@hotmail.com

Clay Boutwell and his wife, Yumi, produce books and materials to help students of the Japanese language. He started the popular website for learners, www.TheJapanesePage.com in 2000, and they opened their shop
at www.TheJapanShop.com in 2002. Together, they have written dozens of books on various Japanese-related topics and now, they produce a monthly digital magazine called Makoto for beginning to intermediate learners of Japanese.
Clay sets out just how he and Yumi established a global online business.

Robin Dosoruth has been training in Northstar Ju Jitsu for over 15 years under Sensei Andrew Dickinson. He has attained his 4th Dan and runs his dojo, Arrow Martial Arts, with his wife Corinne who is also an NSJJ Black Belt. Rob’s life itself has been rich with challenges and adventures from a young age. After completing his HSC with academic excellence in his native Mauritius, he applied for and was awarded an Australian Government scholarship to complete his Bachelor Degree at Macquarie University in Sydney, where he moved to in 1994. Having to adapt fairly quickly to life in Australia, away from family and friends, with English as a second language, was one of Rob’s first challenges here. Thankfully, he and his wife Corinne supported each other over the years. They started training in Northstar Ju Jitsu around the same time, graded to their 1st Dan Black Belt the same year, and welcomed their son Cayden in 2011, only six weeks before opening Arrow Martial Arts, and two weeks before Rob’s 2nd Dan grading. Rob has always welcomed challenges and testing times as a way to extend himself – he seems to have made a way of life of biting more than he can chew, then chewing like there’s no tomorrow! Having to remodel how his dojo delivered classes online through Video On Demand and livestreaming during the 2020 COVID lockdown in Sydney was one of the ways he and Corinne applied adaptability to help their business survive. Having worked for over 20 years in delivering audiovisual services as part of his day job played an important part in this successful adaptation before physical lessons were allowed to resume in June 2020. He also credits the support of members of their tight-knit dojo community at Arrow, who have been supportive throughout this challenging year. This, he says, reminds him to be grateful, humbles him most profoundly and is testament to the hope he still has in humanity. In 2019, Rob competed in Florida, USA and brought home silver and bronze medals for Australia. He has also trained students to fight in other competitions in Australia and overseas, including in the SAW tournament in Japan and NSJJ championships locally. Rob derives great fulfilment from teaching and empowering students of all ages to go beyond their limits and find their true potential on and off the mats. Rob loves meeting and connecting with new people as part of his martial arts adventures. One thing he enjoys even more than sharing his own insights is listening to others’ rich stories of overcoming adversity and challenges and continuously improving their lives. Rob has supported Corinne in expanding Arrow Martial Arts’ offering to include Meditation and Yoga, which Corinne has trained and been accredited in. He cherishes the opportunity to grow his entrepreneurial spirit through building Arrow Martial Arts as a successful dojo. Like most other entrepreneurs, he considers every mistake as just another learning opportunity to improve and make better choices. While he stresses the importance of being able to think outside the square, he has also learned that, quite often, it is up to the business owner to draw the line on how far he or she is willing to compromise to meet customer expectations. Importantly, though, leaving students on a high as they exit the dojo after a gruelling lesson is of paramount importance, he says. Throughout it all, he’s learned that going the extra distance, such as an additional text message to follow up an enquiry, can make all the difference in business success by going further than the competition. Best investment? The house we live in.

Valerie Khoo is a writer, mentor, artist and CEO of the Australian Writers' Centre, the country's leading centre for writing courses. The Centre has helped more than 60,000 students from Australia and around the world. She is a non-fiction author of multiple books and a journalist who wrote for one of Australia's most reputable broadsheets for over 15 years. Valerie combines her work in the writing and publishing industry with her work as a visual artist. Her artwork has featured in multiple exhibitions and is licensed through companies all over the world. Valerie was also the City of Sydney’s Curator of the Sydney Lunar Festival for 2019 and 2020, an event that attracts more than 1.5 million people.