This Way Forward

Cascade Strategy
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This Way Forward is a high-energy podcast where strategy gets real. In just 10 minutes, a C-suite leader walks us through one bold strategic bet: the moment they took the risk, why it wasn’t obvious, what made it hard, and how it changed the game. Hosted by Charlie Newark-French, CEO at Cascade, each episode is a window into the minds of the people steering companies through uncertainty, complexity, and transformation. No fluff. No jargon. Just raw, strategic decision-making at the highest level. For leaders who want to learn from the sharpest minds in business, this is the way forward.

  1. 10/05/2025

    The Bet to Leave the Market Leader and Rebuild Virgin Australia

    Welcome to This Way Forward, the podcast where C-suite leaders unpack the bold strategic bets that changed everything. In this episode, Charlie Newark-French sits down with Race Strauss, CFO of Virgin Australia. Together, they explore a different kind of strategic bet: a personal career gamble. Race unpacks the decision to leave a secure role at Qantas—the market leader—to take the helm of a competitor that had just entered voluntary administration. The bold strategic betWhen Race joined Virgin Australia, the airline was in the middle of its demise, having lost its way by trying to be "everything to everyone." While the safe play was to stay with the incumbent, Race bet on the rebuild. Backed by Bain Capital, he saw the opportunity to strip the business down, rebuild the finance function from scratch, and pivot the airline's strategy to something sustainable. That decision required navigating a grueling three-year restructuring, a sale of 25% of the business to Qatar Airways, and preparing for a public listing—ultimately saving the airline and restoring competition to the Australian skies. In this episode: Why Race left the safety of Qantas for a bankrupt competitor The flaw in Virgin’s original strategy that led to administration How private equity ownership changed the airline's trajectory The mental resilience required to work through a total business rebuild How to assess risk vs. reward when making career-defining choices 👉 Subscribe to catch new episodes each month. Every conversation is under 15 minutes and laser-focused on one transformational decision that shaped the future of a company.

    11 min

  2. 18/11/2025

    Telstra’s Massive AI Infrastructure Bet

    Welcome to This Way Forward, the podcast where C-suite leaders unpack the bold strategic bets that changed everything. In this episode, Charlie Newark-French sits down with Josh Blandy, Head of Performance Strategy at Telstra, Australia’s largest telecommunications company. Together, they explore a strategic bet that is happening right now: Telstra’s massive investment to rebuild its network for the unprecedented demands of the AI era. The bold strategic betThe demand for bandwidth is exploding, but the type of demand is changing. AI requires synchronous (two-way) data flow, not the one-way (asynchronous) traffic of the streaming age. The old networks weren't built for this. While facing intense competition and regulation, Josh and the Telstra team made the call to invest heavily in new, core network infrastructure capable of handling this new wave of AI-driven demand. They also bet on "Network as a Product," exposing core capabilities, like on-demand bandwidth, directly to customers. To maintain focus, this meant divesting other parts of the business (like its cloud services) to go all-in on connectivity. It’s a high-stakes bet on a future where the network is the critical enabler of the AI revolution. In this episode: Why AI demand is different (Synchronous vs. Asynchronous)The high-stakes trade-offs required to focus (like selling their cloud business)What "Network as a Product" means for B2B customersHow Telstra is betting on core connectivity when others are diversifyingLeading a strategic bet when the full implementation plan isn't yet known 👉 Subscribe to catch new episodes each month. Every conversation is under 15 minutes and laser-focused on one transformational decision that changed the trajectory of a company.

    22 min

  3. 15/12/2025

    WWF’s Leap Into the Future: AI, Blockchain, and Purpose

    Welcome to This Way Forward, the podcast where C-suite leaders unpack the bold strategic bets that changed everything. In this episode, Charlie Newark-French sits down with Dermot O’Gorman, CEO of WWF-Australia, to explore how one of the world’s most recognized conservation organizations made a radical bet to reinvent itself for the future. The bold strategic bet In 2016, WWF-Australia faced a challenge familiar to many mission-driven organizations: how to scale impact in a rapidly changing world. While others doubled down on traditional philanthropy, WWF made a bold move—redefining its role from a conservation charity to a catalyst for innovation, technology, and impact investing. The organization embraced AI, blockchain, and blended finance to bridge the gap between philanthropy and profit, proving that purpose and performance could coexist. The shift wasn’t easy. It required cultural reinvention, new risk systems, and rethinking what it meant to deliver impact. But the bet paid off—WWF built social ventures like OpenSC, now operating in 19 countries, using blockchain and AI to verify sustainability claims across global supply chains. In this episode: How WWF used future forecasting to identify three “mega trends” reshaping purpose-driven workWhy Dermot bet on AI, blockchain, and impact investing long before they were mainstreamThe cultural and operational changes needed to drive innovation at scaleLessons from building ventures that blend philanthropy and investment returnsWhat it takes to keep a 60-year-old global brand future-ready 👉 Subscribe to catch new episodes each month. Every conversation is under 15 minutes and laser-focused on one transformational decision that shaped the future of a company.

    19 min

  4. 19/08/2025

    The Bet to Make ALS a Livable Disease by 2030

    Welcome to This Way Forward, the podcast where C-suite leaders unpack the bold strategic bets that changed everything. In this episode, Charlie Newark-French sits down with Nicole Eck, Chief Strategy Officer at the ALS Association, the nonprofit leading the global fight to make ALS a livable disease. Together, they explore the moment when the ALS Association moved away from chasing short-term fundraising goals and instead made a bold long-term bet: to make ALS livable by 2030. The bold strategic bet Fueled by the unexpected windfall of the Ice Bucket Challenge—which raised $115M in 60 days—the ALS Association faced a choice: double down on short-term revenue targets or aim for a transformational goal. Nicole and her team chose the latter. They reorganized the entire Association, merging 20 chapters into a single unified organization, embedding accountability into every initiative, and aligning stakeholders around one question: Does this make ALS livable? It wasn’t the obvious choice. Skepticism was high, progress in ALS had been slow, and “livable” was a concept many in the community struggled to define. But with new therapies reversing symptoms in patients and unprecedented global collaboration, Nicole and her team saw the chance to reframe the fight against ALS forever. In this episode: How the Ice Bucket Challenge reshaped the ALS landscape Why “making ALS livable” was a radical break from traditional nonprofit goals The internal restructuring required to align 20 organizations into one The early signs that a livable future for ALS patients is possible What other leaders can learn from betting on long-term change over short-term wins 👉 Subscribe to catch new episodes each month. Every conversation is under 15 minutes and laser-focused on one transformational decision that shaped the future of a company—or in this case, an entire cause.

    15 min

  5. 13/08/2025

    The Bet That Rewrote the Rules of Hotel Growth

    Welcome to This Way Forward, the podcast where C-suite leaders unpack the bold strategic bets that changed everything. In this episode, Charlie Newark-French sits down with Elaine Zhuang, General Manager of Strategy, Transformation, and Value Delivery at nbn, Australia’s National Broadband Network. She unpacks a pivotal moment from earlier in her career where a single boardroom challenge not only transformed a struggling hotel chain but also earned her a promotion to the Executive Committee, making her the youngest in the group's history. The bold strategic bet Juna Hotels was a struggling state-owned group, losing ground to global giants. Its growth plan was to keep building expensive, capital-intensive hotels with a dismal 3% ROI. As a junior observer in the boardroom, Elaine saw the flawed model and made an unprecedented bet: challenge the chairman and abandon ownership. Her vision was a radical “three-way partnership”—uniting developers (to build), an international brand (for marketing), and Juna (for management). It was a career-defining risk that nearly got her kicked out of the room. But that single bet created an asset-light model that doubled the company’s portfolio and beat international incumbents at their own game. In this episode: Why building new hotels was a losing strategy (and the 3% ROI that proved it) The three-party partnership model that outsmarted global giants The boardroom challenge that led to a history-making promotion What to do when you see a gap and need to step in to fill it Why "scale does not require you to own everything" 👉 Subscribe to catch new episodes each month. Every conversation is under 15 minutes and laser-focused on one transformational decision that shaped the future of a company.

    16 min

  6. 11/08/2025

    The Bet That Took Aspen Dental Coast to Coast

    Welcome to This Way Forward, the podcast where C-suite leaders unpack the bold strategic bets that changed everything. In this episode, Charlie Newark-French sits down with Alex Weiss, CFO of The Aspen Group, the parent company of Aspen Dental and other retail healthcare brands. Together, they explore the pivotal decision that turned Aspen from a single office into one of the largest dental networks in the United States. The bold strategic bet In the late 1990s, dentistry in the U.S. was almost entirely fragmented—thousands of independent offices with dentists juggling patient care and back-office operations. Aspen made a different bet: build the first coast-to-coast, nationally branded dental support network. By taking on the administrative burdens—real estate, marketing, insurance, billing, procurement—Aspen freed dentists to focus on patients and scale their practices. It wasn’t obvious. Dentists had to legally own their practices, making franchising impossible. Skeptics doubted doctors would give up control. But Aspen proved the model, grew to hundreds of locations, and later made another bold pivot—cannibalizing its core denture business to double down on dental implants. That shift now drives nearly a billion dollars in revenue across Aspen and ClearChoice implant centers. In this episode: Why Aspen bet on a national dental support model when no one else would How back-office scale unlocked growth for independent dentists The bold move from Syracuse to Chicago—and how it unlocked talent for the next phase Why Aspen cannibalized its own denture business to embrace implants How lessons from dental are shaping Aspen’s expansion into vet care and medical aesthetics 👉 Subscribe to catch new episodes each month. Every conversation is under 15 minutes and laser-focused on one transformational decision that shaped the future of a company.

    17 min

  7. 06/08/2025

    How Canon Reinvented Itself Before It Was Too Late

    Welcome to This Way Forward, the podcast where C-suite leaders unpack the bold strategic bets that changed everything. In this episode, Charlie Newark-French sits down with Craig Manson, former Executive Director of Canon Australia and current board advisor and operator across multiple businesses, to unpack the bold decision that helped rescue a legacy business from decline—and reposition it for growth. Together, they explore how Craig led Canon out of the shrinking printer market and into a future powered by software, workflow automation, and managed services. The bold strategic bet Canon Australia was bleeding tens of millions annually. Customers were printing less, workflows were digitizing, and the core business was slipping. Craig made the call: stop selling just photocopiers and start solving end-to-end workflow problems. The shift wasn’t easy. Sales teams resisted. Customers doubted. Headquarters in Japan questioned the move. But by doubling down on automation, partnering with software experts, and reshaping how value was delivered, Craig transformed Canon Australia into a profitable, future-facing business. In this episode: Why printing was no longer Canon’s path forward How Craig turned resistance—internal and external—into momentum What it takes to lead transformation when the clock is ticking The customer conversations that validated the bet How Canon leveraged its brand and relationships to win in new markets 👉 Subscribe to catch new episodes each month. Every conversation is under 20 minutes and laser-focused on one transformational decision that shaped the future of a company.

    12 min

  8. 11/07/2025

    Why Arbol Bet On Climate Insurance While Others Left

    Welcome to This Way Forward, the podcast where C-suite leaders unpack the bold strategic bets that changed everything. In this episode, Charlie Newark-French sits down with Siddhartha Jha, Founder and CEO of Arbol, the company reinventing insurance by building financial infrastructure for climate risk. They explore the pivotal decision that led Arbol into the collapsing property insurance market just as most major players were exiting regions like Florida and Hawaii. The bold strategic bet While the industry was retreating, Sid saw an opening. Arbol acquired a property insurance carrier and rebuilt the model from the ground up. By combining AI, parametric insurance, and access to new sources of capital, they began writing policies where others wouldn’t. That decision not only revived a struggling market but positioned Arbol as a leader in the future of climate resilience. In this episode: Why Arbol stepped into a market others were abandoningHow technology and data changed the economics of insuranceThe obstacles that nearly stopped the deal from going throughWhat it takes to reinvent an entire insurance supply chainLessons for leaders tackling high-risk, high-reward markets 👉 Subscribe to catch new episodes each month. Every conversation is under 15 minutes and focuses on one transformational decision that changed the course of a company.

    22 min
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About

This Way Forward is a high-energy podcast where strategy gets real. In just 10 minutes, a C-suite leader walks us through one bold strategic bet: the moment they took the risk, why it wasn’t obvious, what made it hard, and how it changed the game. Hosted by Charlie Newark-French, CEO at Cascade, each episode is a window into the minds of the people steering companies through uncertainty, complexity, and transformation. No fluff. No jargon. Just raw, strategic decision-making at the highest level. For leaders who want to learn from the sharpest minds in business, this is the way forward.

Information

  • Creator
    Cascade Strategy
  • Episodes
    14
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Cascade Strategy
  • Show Website
    This Way Forward