SHFT POD

Poly Studios
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Conversations with founders, leaders and high performing individuals that have made a shift in their life that's put them on the path they're on today. We unpack their leadership style, values and belief systems to inspire you to make that shift.

  1. 6d ago

    Every Day Matters: A Founder's Journey From Hustle to Balance

    Dan and Erin sit down with serial entrepreneur Mick Spencer, the founder behind OTG Sports, Gravity Drinks Co and Australia's homegrown agave brand SOLLOS. Mick gets real about the health scares that shaped his mindset early on, and how nearly running out of time taught him that every single day counts. From there he takes us back to the very start: registering his first business for $142 and personally delivering a $40k order 30 minutes before a major event kicked off. The chat then moves into the business lessons Mick's picked up scaling and exiting more than 20 companies, including the moment he realised he's a visionary, not a CEO, and why knowing the difference matters if you want to build something that actually runs without you. He also shares a simple framework he uses to decide which opportunities are worth chasing (hint: it's not just about the money) and gets honest about redefining "busy" as he balances being a Dad with a stack of businesses.  SHFT POD is sponsored by Flockd and Smelly Balls. T&Cs: 20% off applies to new Flockd customers only for your first hot desk booking. Must be redeemed by 30 December 2026. Quote the code SHFT when booking. Not valid with any other offer. Connect With Us Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@SHFT.Pod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shftpod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Submit a Question ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Submit a Guest ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here

  2. Aug 30

    When Purpose Outweighs Profit: A Different Kind of Leadership

    Dan and Erin sit down with Alison Geale, a friend and long-time mentor to Erin, who made one of the biggest career pivots you'll hear on this show — swapping two decades in commercial media leadership for the CEO chair at Bravehearts. They discuss how Alison built her career, starting as a 15-year-old work experience kid at a local radio station and rising to general manager, the "almost perfect" culture she built along the way, and the hard conversations early in her career that shaped how she leads today. Alison then unpacks what she's learnt moving from a profit-driven world to a purpose-driven one, why not-for-profits are often more innovative than big business, the difference between being responsible for people versus accountable to them, and how she protects her team (and herself) from burnout when the work carries real emotional weight. Dan and Erin also get her to open up on self-development, energy management, and the moment that's made her proudest in the role.  SHFT POD is sponsored by Flockd and Smelly Balls. T&Cs: 20% off applies to new Flockd customers only for your first hot desk booking. Must be redeemed by 30 December 2026. Quote the code SHFT when booking. Not valid with any other offer. Connect With Us Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@SHFT.Pod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠shftpod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Submit a Question ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Submit a Guest ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here

  3. Aug 23

    Why We Need to Talk About AI's Downfalls (Even Though We Love It)

    Dan and Erin love AI, they use it every single day, but this week they're pulling back the curtain on where it actually lets people down. From bland LinkedIn posts, to performance reviews that clearly weren't written by a human, they dig into the difference between using AI as a tool and outsourcing your thinking, your voice, and your leadership to it entirely. Dan shares how he's trained his own AI agents on his writing style, while Erin unpacks the confidentiality risks businesses face when staff use personal accounts for corporate work. They also discuss recruitment, coaching, and collaboration: Is it still okay to lean on AI to write your resume, coach you through self-development, or capture your meeting notes? Spoiler: yes, but only if you know what you're doing first. The big takeaway is simple but easy to forget: use AI to strip out the low-value stuff sucking up your brain capacity, but don't lose you in the process. Because the second everything starts sounding the same, everyone can tell. SHFT POD is sponsored by Flockd and Smelly Balls. T&Cs: 20% off applies to new Flockd customers only for your first hot desk booking. Must be redeemed by 30 December 2026. Quote the code SHFT when booking. Not valid with any other offer. Connect With Us Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@SHFT.Pod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠shftpod.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ Submit a Question ⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠ Submit a Guest ⁠⁠⁠⁠here

  4. Aug 16

    The Wine Industry Is Dying, So She Built the Fix

    Dan and Erin sit down with Katharina Cser-Mostyn, the powerhouse behind Wine Not - the feminine wine brand that started with a Tinder date and ended up on Shark Tank. Kata takes us right back to her network marketing days, unpacking the good, the bad and the genuinely toxic sides of that world. She opens up about the lessons the industry taught her, and expresses gratitude for the lifelong skills she walked away with. From there it's straight into the wine world, where Kata is proving that a good idea (and a lot of resilience) can crack open one of the world's most old-school industries. We're talking pouches versus bottles, the very real double standard of walking into a bar as a woman with a pitch versus sending her husband in instead, and her very spicy take that the traditional wine industry is dying and nobody wants to admit it.  SHFT POD is sponsored by Flockd and Smelly Balls. T&Cs: 20% off applies to new Flockd customers only for your first hot desk booking. Must be redeemed by 30 December 2026. Quote the code SHFT when booking. Not valid with any other offer. Connect With Us Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@SHFT.Pod⁠⁠⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠⁠shftpod.com⁠⁠⁠ Submit a Question ⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠ Submit a Guest ⁠⁠⁠here

  5. Aug 9

    The Truth About High Performance Teams

    Dan and Erin are tackling high performance culture this week, and it has nothing to do with ping pong tables and free lunches. They dig into what actually separates a genuinely high-performing team from one that just looks good on the surface, from the energy you feel walking into a business to the way leaders handle things when they go wrong. Along the way they get into some eye-opening stats on global engagement (spoiler: it's not pretty), why engaged teams are dramatically more productive and profitable, and how hustle culture is quietly burning people out. The conversation also goes deep on incentives: team vs individual bonuses, high salary vs high commission, and what happens when businesses chase results at the expense of their values (yep, the Wells Fargo scandal gets a mention). Dan and Erin wrap things up with a practical look at how leaders can turn workplace perks into a genuine wellbeing strategy, and where to start if your culture isn't where you want it to be. SHFT POD is sponsored by Flockd and Smelly Balls. T&Cs: 20% off applies to new Flockd customers only for your first hot desk booking. Must be redeemed by 30 December 2026. Quote the code SHFT when booking. Not valid with any other offer. Connect With Us Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠@SHFT.Pod⁠⁠⁠ Website: ⁠⁠shftpod.com⁠⁠ Submit a Question ⁠⁠here⁠⁠ Submit a Guest ⁠⁠here

  6. Aug 2

    The Peptide Boom: What Your Pharmacist Wishes You Knew

    Dan and Erin sit down for a second episode with Matt Bellgrove from National Custom Compounding to unpack one of the biggest health trends right now: peptides. Matt breaks down what a peptide actually is, how they differ from things like testosterone therapy, and why products like BPC-157, TB-500 and semaglutide have gone from niche biohacking tools to mainstream conversation. They delve into the science of longevity, muscle and joint regeneration, and why the line between "cosmetic," "therapeutic" and "research only" is much blurrier than most people realise.The conversation also digs into the boom's messier side—the risks of buying unregulated peptides online, the patent battles playing out between pharma giants, and why Matt believes the biggest danger right now isn't the peptides themselves but where people are sourcing them from. SHFT POD is sponsored by Flockd and Smelly Balls.T&Cs: 20% off applies to new Flockd customers only for your first hot desk booking. Must be redeemed by 30 December 2026. Quote the code SHFT when booking. Not valid with any other offer. Connect With Us Instagram: ⁠⁠@SHFT.Pod⁠⁠ Website: ⁠shftpod.com⁠ Submit a Question ⁠here⁠ Submit a Guest ⁠here

  7. Jul 26

    Personalised Medicine, DNA & the Future of Pharmacy

    Dan and Erin sit down with Matt Bellgrove, founder and director of National Custom Compounding, for a conversation about one of the biggest shifts happening in modern healthcare. Matt takes us through his journey from growing up in a pharmacy family in country South Australia to building a compounding pharmacy business on the Gold Coast — including the moment he decided to go out on his own, the risk of refinancing to buy his dad out, and the pinnacle experience as a ten-year-old that shaped his "roll the dice" approach to life ever since. From there the conversation dives into what compounding pharmacy actually is, why personalised medicine is gaining momentum, and how DNA testing is starting to change the way we think about supplements and treatment. Matt also opens up about building a 40-person team, the value of community and mentorship, and how he balances (or rather, integrates) running a growing business with being a present husband and dad of four.  SHFT POD is sponsored by Flockd and Smelly Balls.T&Cs: 20% off applies to new Flockd customers only for your first hot desk booking. Must be redeemed by 30 December 2026. Quote the code SHFT when booking. Not valid with any other offer. Connect With Us Instagram: ⁠⁠@SHFT.Pod⁠⁠ Website: ⁠shftpod.com⁠ Submit a Question ⁠here⁠ Submit a Guest ⁠here

  8. Jul 19

    Behind the Mic: Dan on Grit, Grief and Getting His Identity Back

    This week, Erin turns the mic on Dan for a deep dive into his story. They cover everything from leaving school at 14 to chase a professional basketball career, to landing his first corporate gig at Coca-Cola at 20, to becoming the youngest ever Sales Manager of the Year at 24. Dan also shares some wild stories from managing vending machines inside Queensland prisons, including one particularly chaotic tale involving stolen tokens and a very patient warden. The conversation shifts to how Dan built his unbreakable glassware business from the ground up with his late business partner Simon, and the incredibly hard two years that followed Simon's sudden passing while trying to hold the company together. Dan opens up about how much of his identity became wrapped up in the business, what it took to rebuild himself afterward, and how that experience shaped the work he does now helping others avoid burn out while chasing success at the cost of everything else. SHFT POD is sponsored by Flockd and Smelly Balls. T&Cs: 20% off applies to new Flockd customers only for your first hot desk booking. Must be redeemed by 30 December 2026. Quote the code SHFT when booking. Not valid with any other offer. Connect With Us Instagram: ⁠@SHFT.Pod⁠ Website: shftpod.com Submit a Question here Submit a Guest here

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About

Conversations with founders, leaders and high performing individuals that have made a shift in their life that's put them on the path they're on today. We unpack their leadership style, values and belief systems to inspire you to make that shift.

Information

  • Creator
    Poly Studios
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    29
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Poly Studios
  • Show Website
    SHFT POD