Success x Happiness

sxhpod

Real conversations with inspiring people to help us all achieve success and happiness in our own lives and live our potential.

  1. 2d ago

    He Dropped Out Of Law. Now He's A CFO And Board Director | Damien Hicks - EP173

    He was picking pine cones off the backyard lawn as a kid. Now he's the CFO behind a private equity buyout of one of Australia's fastest-growing IT platforms. Damien Hicks dropped out of law, qualified as a chartered accountant, and became CFO and Board Director of Entag — headquartered right here on the Sunshine Coast. In this episode you'll learn how a modern CFO actually uses AI, what a private equity buyout looks like from the inside, and how he protects two non-negotiable hours a day for his kids.   -   Get in touch with Damien Hicks - https://entag.com.au/   -   Damien Hicks's Quick Fire Answers What does success mean to you? "Success for me is two-tiered — being the best version of myself, and leaving other people more positively after an interaction with me." What does happiness mean to you? "Health is number one, and happiness is literally my family of five, just being together." What's your normal morning routine these days? "It's a bit broken with young kids right now — my two-year-old doesn't sleep through the night, so Kayla and I take it in turns getting up early. Then it's breakfast as a family before school and work." What piece of advice would you put on a billboard for the world to see? "Keep showing up — you might not win every day, but you'll outlast and you'll learn. And you're either winning or you're learning. There's no losing." Who would you suggest as a future guest on the show? "Luke Mountford, managing partner at Hopgood Ganim Lawyers — one of the most pragmatic, approachable people I've met."   -   Listen To The Podcast https://pod.link/1683066164?view=apps&sort=popularity   -   Find Us On Social Media https://www.instagram.com/sxhpod   -   Chapters (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:00:40) – Chapter 1 | Picking Pine Cones To Private Equity: Damien Hicks' Path To CFO (00:17:23) – Chapter 2 | Is AI Overhyped? A CFO's Playbook For Boundaries And Disconnecting (00:29:23) – Chapter 3 | Inside Entag's Roll-Up Strategy To Become An Australian IT Platform (00:39:12) - Quick Fire Questions (00:41:58) - Outro   -   #podcast #cfo #sunshinecoast

    He Dropped Out Of Law. Now He's A CFO And Board Director | Damien Hicks - EP173
  2. Jul 29

    What Property You Should ACTUALLY Be Buying with Buyer's Agent Murray McCarthy | EP172

    He walked away from a six-figure corporate career to build his own buyer’s agency from the ground up. In this episode, Murray McCarthy shares his path from accounting and law to major property projects in London and Maroochydore, and what drove him to back himself. You'll gain insight into how buyer’s agents source, assess and negotiate properties, and why data must outweigh emotion when the numbers do not stack up. Murray also delves into residential versus commercial investing, and why he sees no signs of the Sunshine Coast market slowing ahead of the Olympics. - Get in touch with Murray McCarthy - https://www.mmbuyersagent.com.au/ - Murray's Quick Fire Answers What does success mean to you? "Success to me means freedom." What does happiness mean to you? "Family, being happy, watching your kids grow up doing a good job, having good friends around you and just surrounding yourself with good people." What’s your normal morning routine these days? "When I used to do a lot of cycling I'd get up at 4:35 to do that or go to the gym early. Lately it's getting a bit slack — more around 6, 6:30, get the kids ready for school. I always like to write an action list for my day — what am I doing today, what do I have to tick off. That's a really good time to reflect." What piece of advice would you put on a billboard for the world to see? "Back yourself. I had a lot of people who saw what I did and sniggered, and that gives me great satisfaction now. But you can't just be passionate — you've got to be resilient, work hard, and make your own luck by putting yourself out there. It won't just come to you." Who would you suggest as a future guest on the show? "John Gannon. He's the gentleman who suggested I take on the chair role at the Flinders Foundation — a hugely successful fellow, a great human, and a great story to tell in terms of what he's done and how humble he is." - Listen To The Podcast https://pod.link/1683066164?view=apps&sort=popularity - Find Us On Social Media https://www.instagram.com/sxhpod - Chapters (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:00:40) – Chapter 1 | Lawyer, London Towers, Maroochydore CBD: Murray McCarthy's Path To His Own Buyer's Agency (00:14:32) – Chapter 2 | Inside The Dark Arts Of Buyer's Agency: Data, Power and Reading The Sunshine Coast Market (00:29:26) - Quick Fire Questions (00:32:12) - Outro - #podcast #buyersagent #sunshinecoast

    What Property You Should ACTUALLY Be Buying with Buyer's Agent Murray McCarthy | EP172
  3. Jul 22

    AI Expert Warns: We Have 1-3 Years To Get Ready | Arek Rejman - EP171

    From hacking Commodore Amigas in communist-era Poland to advising businesses as the Sunshine Coast's leading AI thought leader — Arek Rejman's path is anything but ordinary. With a masters in computer image analysis and a machine learning PhD behind him, Arek and his wife left Poland for Melbourne in 2005, spent "temporary" 15 years there, and landed on the Sunshine Coast after COVID — right as ChatGPT's launch convinced him to go all-in and found AI Compass.   -   Get in touch with Arek Rejman - https://aicompass.com.au   -   Arek's Quick Fire Answers   What does success mean to you? "To do whatever I want, wherever I want, whenever I want, at any time. That's the freedom. And the end goal is just to enjoy the journey — it's the journey, not the end point."   What does happiness mean to you? "Small things. Collect all small things. If you are not able to be happy with small things, the big ones don't give you the fulfilment either. Go out with my wife for a coffee, sit down — palms, water, yachts, wind, sun. And be close with family."   What's your normal morning routine these days? "Do I have any? Managing my team in Europe throws out the standard routine. The one thing I keep coherent is onboarding myself with what's going on in AI — I have automated systems that brief me and create audio summaries I can listen to in the car, because the stuff changes daily, even by the hour."   What piece of advice would you put on a billboard for the world to see? "Enjoy the time, have fun, and play with the AI toys you have around — that's the best possible way to learn. Only 2.3% of US households and 1.2% of Australian households pay for AI subscriptions. If you think you're late — you're not."   Who would you suggest as a future guest on the show? "Rob Steffler from Silicon Coast. He has a very aligned view on how our education systems are outdated today — if education doesn't adjust to AI, we are cooked on a global scale."   -   Listen To The Podcast https://pod.link/1683066164?view=apps&sort=popularity   -   Find Us On Social Media https://www.instagram.com/sxhpod   -   Chapters (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:00:38) – Chapter 1 | From Hacking Amigas in Poland to Founding AI Compass on the Sunshine Coast (00:12:06) – Chapter 2 | AI as Your Strategic Advantage: Cognitive Extension, Not Just a Tool (00:26:18) – Chapter 3 | Best Case vs Worst Case: Post-Labour Utopia or Second Species on the Planet (00:45:24) – Chapter 4 | AI Consciousness, China vs the US, and the Taiwan Chip Bottleneck (00:54:28) - Quick Fire Questions (00:59:57) - Outro   -   #podcast #artificialintelligence #sunshinecoast

    AI Expert Warns: We Have 1-3 Years To Get Ready | Arek Rejman - EP171
  4. Jun 17

    The Leadership Secret Behind Australia’s Greatest Cricket Team | John Buchanan - EP166

    The coach behind one of the greatest sporting dynasties of all time reveals what it really takes to build a culture of sustained success. John Buchanan went from being a schoolteacher and Queensland coach to leading the Australian cricket team through an era of unprecedented dominance, redefining leadership, innovation, and high performance along the way.   -   Get in touch with John Buchanan - https://www.buchanancoaching.com/   -   John’s Quick Fire Answers   What does success mean to you? “A thriving family.”   What does happiness mean to you? “Strong relationships, family, and seeing others thrive.”   What’s your normal morning routine these days? “Starting the day with exercise, reflection, and preparation.”   What piece of advice would you put on a billboard for the world to see? “Be curious. Keep learning.”   Who would you suggest as a future guest on the show? “Someone with an inspiring story who may never have had the opportunity to share it.”   -   Listen To The Podcast https://pod.link/1683066164?view=apps&sort=popularity   -   Find Us On Social Media https://www.instagram.com/sxhpod   -   Chapters   (00:00:00) - Introduction   (00:00:34) – Chapter 1 | Building Queensland’s Winning Foundations   (00:25:01) – Chapter 2 | Leadership, Culture & Sustaining Success   (00:53:26) – Quick Fire Questions   (00:56:24) – Outro   -   #podcast #leadership #cricket

    The Leadership Secret Behind Australia’s Greatest Cricket Team | John Buchanan - EP166

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Real conversations with inspiring people to help us all achieve success and happiness in our own lives and live our potential.

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