The Kismet Podcast

Carina Waye

Welcome to The Kismet Podcast - honest conversations about careers, growth, and the unexpected paths that shape our lives. Hosted by Carina Waye, each episode shares real stories from the people behind Kismet; exploring career pivots, ambition, personal goals, and the moments of fate that quietly change everything. These conversations go beyond job titles, diving into the human side of work, values, and the lessons learned along the way. If you’re navigating your career, building something of your own, or curious about how great people think, grow, and take leaps, you’re in the right place.

  1. 1d ago

    Sam Armstrong | Fail Upwards

    Sam Armstrong is the co-founder and Chief Ecosystems Officer at Kismet.  He met Mark for the first time helping carry a very large tree up a lift in South Melbourne. He was the first person hired at Xplor. He was an electrician for 10 years before that, a personal trainer before that, and a removalist in London who moved Madonna, Jude Law and Ozzy Osbourne before that. This episode is warm, funny and full of stories. Sammy talks about going all in on LEDs in 2012 (too early, ended up in Macau getting crazy suits made), walking on hot coals at age five, pencilling arguments with his wife into the calendar, and investing in crypto purely based on how cool the logo looked - Stefan has not forgiven him. He also talks about what it means to build genuine relationships, how to hold someone's hand through one of the biggest decisions of their life, and why his still considers himself the shy kid. 🎧 Listen on YouTube and Apple Podcasts too. Follow us! Instagram: @kismethealthy LinkedIn: @kismethealthcare YouTube Apple Podcasts Kismet

    45 min

  2. Jun 23

    Adam Dicker | Organised Chaos

    Adam Dicker has been at Kismet for three years - one of the OG's. He's the principal engineer and has the least internet presence of anyone who has sat in this studio. And he would like to keep it that way thank you very much. This episode is a delight. Adam is honest, funny and completely himself. He talks about being a first-time parent and an early stage startup employee simultaneously, moving six times in three years, why he describes himself as horrible with goals but has somehow achieved everything he set his mind to, and why he considers himself objectively lucky despite occasionally being, in his own words, a little bleak. There's also a very long conversation about The Pitt, a Dick Wolf net worth revelation, a Winston Churchill chat, and a hot take about Elsa from Frozen that we don't think you're ready for. 🎧 Listen on YouTube and Apple Podcasts too. Follow us! Instagram: @kismethealthy LinkedIn: @kismethealthcare Apple Podcasts Kismet Contact us 📥 carina@kismet.healthcare

    49 min

  3. Jun 16

    Dylan Verrier | Better Questions, Better Conversations

    Meet Dylan Verrier: Kismet's acquisitions specialist, serial community builder, and the person who sat outside his Bondi apartment with a handmade sign that said 'Here to Listen' the day after one of Australia's most devastating events. Dylan talks about the card game he built called Beyond theWeather, the overnight kayak race and the sand marathon he ran for Mensline, how an ex taught him the most important lesson he knows about friendship, and how DJ decks borrowed from a Kismet investor led to a very unexpected career.   Better questions create better conversations. This episode isthe proof. Article mentioned at the 24ish minute mark: https://www.dazeddigital.com/life-culture/article/68983/1/so-excited-to-catch-up-culture-friendship-recaps-friends    CHAPTERS 00:00  Introduction and fashion as a survival strategy with three sisters 01:30  Dylan's role at Kismet 02:00  Exercise physiology, WorkCover and moving into sales 03:30  Taking the leap: joining a mate's startup and what that taught him 05:00  Plus Communities: from university LMS to music festivals to retirement villages 08:00  Advocating for young people in aged care and seniors loving technology 09:30  Happy hour at 3:00 PM and learning you cannot drive to training 10:30  Community as a through line: the best all-rounder, the musical, the saxophone 12:30  Moving to Sydney, saying yes to everything and building from scratch 14:00  Othello the Musical: three males auditioned and the singing got reassigned 15:30  Goals: where he is amazing and where he has been too loose 17:00  Putting a date to it: the shift that changed everything 18:30  Exercise as a mental health toolkit since age 14 19:00  The 10K Bondi to Watsons Bay ocean swim in winter 19:30  111 kilometres overnight in a ski paddle on the Hawkesbury River 20:30  A full marathon on soft sand at Bondi for Mensline 22:00  Why the challenges are always different and what comes next: the dance challenge 24:30  Beyond the Weather: the card game that started as a Christmas experiment 26:00  The Mankind Project and why better questions create better conversations 28:00  The lesson an ex taught him about sitting in discomfort 37:00  How that lesson became a superpower 40:00  Sydney as a community: why Bondi is the exception 42:00  Bondi: what happened 30 metres from his apartment 44:00  Setting up a table out front with a sign that said Here to Listen 47:00  The career break, South America and solo hiking 48:30  The DJ decks, the Kismet investor and how he ended up here 51:00  Luck: if you think you're lucky you look for luck and you find it 52:30  Big goals: the Beyond the Weather movement and events at scale 55:00  The 80th birthday: the connector, the Lego piece, the spark 56:30  What would you tell little Dylan? Keep playing. Remain curious.   Follow us! Instagram: @kismethealthy LinkedIn: @kismethealthcare YouTube: @Kismethealthcare Apple Podcasts Kismet   Contact us 📥 carina@kismet.healthcare

    58 min

  4. Jun 9

    Anna Latussek | Do It For The Plot

    Meet Anna Latussek: software engineer at Kismet, freshly minted Australian citizen, and the person who accidentally ended up catering for orcs and hobbits on a mountain in New Zealand at 5:00 AM.   Anna left Germany at 19 and hasn't really stopped moving since. She talks about building a life in a country that is not your own, the years it takes to find home, and the moments that finally made it feel real. She also solves the Great Doona Debate once and for all. Yes, separate blankets are a thing in Germany. No, she does not understand the top sheet.   Plus the dog accessories business that got to prototype stage, almost moving to Zurich, and a mum who always finds a four-leaf clover when you need one. Follow us! Instagram: @kismethealthy LinkedIn: @kismethealthcare YouTube: @Kismethealthcare Apple Podcasts Kismet   Contact us 📥 carina@kismet.healthcare

    51 min

  5. Jun 2

    Mark Woodland | Goals Need to Be Embarrassing

    Seventeen episodes in, it's finally time for the CEO tosit down.   Mark Woodland is the CEO and founder of Kismet, and thisconversation goes places most founder interviews don't. He talks about losing his brother Ben and about losing hisson five years ago during COVID and going to work the next day. About the three problems he needs to solve before he's done: healthcare, education and housing. And the one after that. Politics.   Plus vision boards, a taxidermy Bigfoot head stuck in customs,why Xplor should have failed 100 times and didn't, and the challenge he is about to issue to the entire Kismet team. Follow us! Instagram: @kismethealthy LinkedIn: @kismethealthcare YouTube: @Kismethealthcare Apple Podcasts Kismet   Contact us 📥 carina@kismet.healthcare

    1h 14m

  6. May 26

    Carina Waye | Love Hard and Show Up

    The tables have turned. This week, our host Carina Waye takes the guest chair, and Kismet CEO Mark Woodland takes the mic.   It turns out Carina has quite the story. Musical theatre degree, rejection from WAAPA at 18, Channel 10, New York, Jim Henson's carriage house, catering for billionaires in the Hamptons, and then coming home during COVID to start fresh in tech with zero experience and a very aggressive LinkedIn strategy.   They also get into goals, luck, gratitude, other people's fear and the five-year plan she was nervous to say out loud. Plus conspiracy theories, obviously. Follow us! Instagram: @kismethealthy LinkedIn: @kismethealthcare YouTube: @Kismethealthcare Apple Podcasts Kismet   Contact us 📥 carina@kismet.healthcare

    1 hr

  7. May 19

    Simone Weston | You Have to Feel It to Heal It

    Meet Simone Weston, Chief Performance Officer at Kismet,obsessed with the Navy SEALs, powered by a 5am ritual, and one of the most extraordinary people to sit down in the studio yet. Mon's episode covers a lot of ground. Her lived experiencewith domestic violence and the healing journey that followed. The power spectrum she created to diagnose where we all sit at any given moment. What we are not teaching men or women about power, and why that gap is costing us. How she was meditating one day and received a very clear message about a job that did not yet exist, and then manifested it into being. Plus: why people-pleasing is actually a form of disempowerment, soul-aligned goals vs ego-driven goals, and how to regulate yourself and a dysregulated room using only your body.   This one is direct, honest and deeply generous. Mon holdsnothing back. In this episode we cover: • The Navy SEALs metaphor and what Kismet is actually trying to build • Power literacy: the gap in corporate Australia no one is talking about • The power spectrum from disempowered to overpowered and how to stay in conscious power • Domestic violence, PTSD and defying the odds on a healing timeline • Healing is a choice: going head on and finding the root cause • You have to feel it to heal it • Regulating yourself and a dysregulated room • Ego and ego: why dropping your energy wins every time • Raising boys with power literacy: critical thinking, boundaries,leadership • Soul-aligned goals vs ego-driven goals and how aligned ones feel like a pull not a force • Manifesting: Mon has a gift and she is the first to admit she cannot explain it • Luck: it is not what happens to you, it is what you make of it Follow us! Instagram: @kismethealthy LinkedIn: @kismethealthcare YouTube: @Kismethealthcare Apple Podcasts Kismet   Contact us 📥 carina@kismet.healthcare

    48 min

  8. May 12

    Shanti Dhanaraj | Books, Flowers and Saying No

    In this episode of The Kismet Podcast, Carina sits down with Shanti Dhanaraj, who looks after Compliance and Systems at Kismet, for one of the most joyful, wide-ranging conversations the pod has had yet. Shanti is a theatre kid turned data nerd turned book obsessive turned flower person, and somehow all of it makes complete sense. They talk about growing up painfully shy and how drama class changed everything, the unexpected connection between theatre ensemble and social justice, what it actually means to make choices for yourself for the first time, and the power of a library card. Plus: a Schitt's Creek rewatch, why Fleabag is always the answer, a strong case for going to shows alone, and the philosophy of flowers. This one is warm, funny and easy to love, just like Shanti. Follow us! Instagram: @kismethealthy LinkedIn: @kismethealthcare YouTube: @Kismethealthcare Apple Podcasts Kismet   Contact us 📥 carina@kismet.healthcare

    58 min
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About

Welcome to The Kismet Podcast - honest conversations about careers, growth, and the unexpected paths that shape our lives. Hosted by Carina Waye, each episode shares real stories from the people behind Kismet; exploring career pivots, ambition, personal goals, and the moments of fate that quietly change everything. These conversations go beyond job titles, diving into the human side of work, values, and the lessons learned along the way. If you’re navigating your career, building something of your own, or curious about how great people think, grow, and take leaps, you’re in the right place.

Information

  • Creator
    Carina Waye
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    22
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Carina Waye
  • Show Website
    The Kismet Podcast