Two Blokes One Business

Blood, Sweat, and LinkedIn: Our 7-Figure Business Building Journey

• Adam Powell & Harvey Rivers • Episode 1

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What does it ACTUALLY take to build a thriving 7-figure service-based business from the ground up?

In this first-ever episode of the “Two Blokes One Business” Podcast, your hosts Harvey Rivers and Adam Powell (founders of Harwell Consulting) - share the truth about transforming their “kitchen table” recruitment startup into a thriving 7-figure enterprise in just 10 months…

All whilst maintaining an award-winning level of service and integrity - giving their clients and team the best possible experience along the way.

Tune in to discover:

  • The 5 key drivers that propelled their rapid growth - including embracing intense pressure, relentless work ethic, and innovative marketing approaches
  • Why showing vulnerability through video content on LinkedIn BEFORE it was common practice attracted more clients than pretending to be experts
  • The critical importance of early investment in sales systems and personal development (and why they spent $18K in their first 6 weeks)
  • How they navigated scaling from a 2-person operation to managing a 7-person team
  • The reality of why pressure INTENSIFIES rather than decreases with success


This episode pulls back the curtain on what it truly takes to build something meaningful from scratch

Key moments:

00:04:00 Why pressure is a secret weapon
00:07:00 Raw authenticity vs polished content on LinkedIn
00:14:00 The truth about "loving what you do" vs grinding it out
00:22:00 From zero brand to industry authority
00:27:00 Why cold calling still wins (even in 2025)
00:31:00 The hard truth about scaling from 2 to 8 people
00:38:00 Leadership lessons: why one size never fits all
00:44:00 The $18K gamble
00:50:00 Next up: Olympian coaches, ecom kings, and Bali entrepreneurs

Whether you're considering starting a business, in the early stages of your journey, or hitting growth plateaus - this conversation delivers the truth about entrepreneurship.

Tune in now to get insights from two blokes who've successfully made the leap from employees to 7-figure business owners - in an incredibly short space of time.

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👉Connect with us

https://www.instagram.com/twoblokesonebusiness
https://www.linkedin.com/company/two-blokes-one-business-podcast

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Adam Powell & Harvey Rivers are the founders of HARWELL.

HARWELL. are renowned in the recruiting space - specialising in finding top talent within the Construction, Accountancy & Finance & Labour Hire sectors. Along with eCommerce.

Their award-winning concierge approach is helping companies attract exceptional talent to their team.

👉Want help finding exceptional talent for your business?

Get in touch with Adam, Harvey, and the team at HARWELL. https://www.harwellconsulting.com.au/

Speaker 01:

So you went from zero dollars in the bank to seven figures in 10 months. That was a hell of a milestone. And now which one again? I didn't want to be that person who tells all their world starting this business, but then if it goes wrong, I'm going to blame someone else. I wanted to be the only way this thing fails is if I don't do the work and I'm not good enough. If you're in a new business and you want to get into posting more things on social, what would you say the best place to start is? Which post of mine has got the most engagement, the most impressions? And it was literally one by saying, if you're ever upset or angry about something, just remember that Rivers still goes to the barbers and pays 60 bucks for a haircut.

Speaker 00:

These are the five key things that probably got us here.

Speaker 01:

The number one thing that I think we both

Speaker 00:

agree is just... We had a great first month, but the first couple of fees were smaller ones. And then this one came in and we were like, you've just made $29,000 with some stupid video in your back garden. There have been some really shit times. A client has gone under that owed us a lot of money. You kind of just dust yourself off and go, I'll keep cracking on. We're back. And before we start, by the way, you should see the setup we've got in here. We've spent all our pocket money. We now can't pay ourselves for the next few months, but it looks absolutely class.

Speaker 01:

It's top tier, mate. And you know what? The mortgage can wait. This is as well as it is. I was living here.

Speaker 00:

That's it. And we are quite literally all the gear, no idea. We still don't have a clue what we're doing in the podcast world, but... We're going to give it a go.

Speaker 01:

We're giving it another run. So the great way to kick us off is going to be a bit of a rundown of what Harwell Consulting is. Last time we sat down and shared a bit, we were six months in. We didn't know much. We don't know much more now. It's been a hell of a journey. He's lost his hair. I'm gone grey.

Speaker 00:

Share a few ideas. Yeah, it's been mental, isn't it, mate? 18 months now. Some days I feel like it's been five minutes. Other days I feel like it's been five years.

Speaker 01:

So you went from... zero dollars in the bank to seven figures in 10 months that was a hell of a milestone and now we've gone again

Speaker 00:

just drop that one in there 30 seconds into the first podcast avid

Speaker 01:

so what we wanted to come up with was the five key drivers for the last 18 months that have got us to where we are maybe held us back from being further ahead potentially as well so anyone who is thinking about starting a business maybe has just started one and they're very early days or they're established but feeling things aren't moving as well as they could learn from our mistakes

Speaker 00:

that's it I think we were quite lucky when we started out as much as it was kind of sink or swim and work it out you know ourselves in a lot of senses we did have some really good people that we could pull on and lean on learn from their mistakes so we're hoping that we can share a bit of that to the people you know like you said it might be someone that's already started out going okay shit I feel out my depth you know how can I pull myself back into line or it might be someone that's got that big idea that they've been sat on for two years and they just need that that little nudge to go fuck it I'm going to do it

Speaker 01:

I think a massive one that you know it's coming but it doesn't really hit you And so you've got to resign from your job and you start day one of your business is the pressure.

Speaker 00:

Yeah, that's it. I remember like, do you remember like back before we pulled the trigger, we were even writing the website, writing all the content and you're like, still doesn't feel real, does it? And then the dreaded moment where you go and resign or in our case, someone finds out, all of a sudden it becomes real and you're like, oh wow, okay, now I've got no job, no salary. I've got a missus at home who's about to pop a baby out. be on maternity leave and we've got well we just put all our savings into starting this business so I think we had the runway of about a month what I did in my bank account anyway

Speaker 01:

how are you feeling mate because I think I was a bit more comfy than you were potentially didn't have a baby on the way that's for sure and I've been at the old recruitment actually a bit longer so probably had a bit more belief in myself because I've been doing it for longer more runs on the board and Were you putting on a brave face because you always felt pretty cool, mate, or were you shitting yourself inside?

Speaker 00:

Oh, yeah, 100% shitting myself inside. Like, I don't think that ever changes. Even if I've been there as long as you had, I think there's always that doubt. And when you do leave a business to go and start a competing business, right, it's always turbulent and there's games to get in your head and whatnot. So it's like, okay, you're getting rattled. You've got to try and keep a clear mind, but then also focus on the new business. But I think we're quite lucky. Like, our background... that we had in pro football in England like it's cutthroat it's dog eat dog and from the age of what 13, 14 it's everything's geared towards being a professional footballer so I think you have to take on and deal with a lot more pressure than what the average 13, 14 year old would

Speaker 01:

and I don't even think it's dealing with it well is what you learn I think it's probably some of the mistakes you make along the way and look back on now as an adult and go shit I didn't deal with that well at all and if I did maybe I would be in the Premier

Speaker 00:

League but No, I don't think you would, mate. You're not

Speaker 02:

quick enough. I don't love a beer too much. Yeah,

Speaker 00:

bloody hell. But, mate, how did you kind of deal with that pressure? Was there anything that you did on a day-to-day, week-to-week basis where you went, okay, this keeps that internal pressure at bay?

Speaker 01:

I think the big one is just taking maximum accountability. I didn't want to be that person who tells all their world and their friends, I'm starting this business, it's going to be so good, but then if it goes wrong, I'm going to blame them. someone else, something else, the market, my dog died, whatever it is. I wanted to be the only way this thing fails is if I don't do the work and I'm not good enough. I didn't want to be anyone else to blame.

Speaker 00:

Yeah, that's it. I think it's that ultimate ownership, isn't it? I think it's easy for people... to slip into that victim mentality and blame all the external factors. And yes, the economy in the world is all reports that it's regressing and whatnot. But within that, there's so many industries that are booming and so many new startup businesses that are winning. So it's like, how can you take ultimate accountability and just go and find a way to make it work? I think that's what we like to say, isn't it?

Speaker 01:

I think it's actually quite freeing as well. Because really, if you know, you can only rely on yourself without that sounding so brutal. There's nowhere else to hide. And I think having me and you together was really good because I think any day as well did feel a little bit sheepish, probably a little bit going, oh, shit, what have we actually done here? If you came steaming in with a double shot ice latte, go, mate, let's absolutely have a crack. Get that down your throat and carry on. Straight away, he's lifting. I can only imagine, talking about deck maybe, he started in his little three-by-three office by himself, the head noise you'd have if you get off a tough call and someone's absolutely... C worded you off. How do you kind of bounce back after that without being able to run upstairs and have a laugh with you, you know?

Speaker 00:

Yeah, that's it. And I've never actually asked you this before. Do you think we used comedy to deal with that pressure initially? Because a lot of the stuff that we put out online was very comedy. Well, we think we're funny. I don't know if other people did, but it was, we were mucking around, we were having a laugh. And I think that was kind of one of our mindsets early doors. We're like, well, we're enjoying ourselves. So yeah. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work.

Speaker 01:

I never thought about it like that. But I think as a defense mechanism, we kind of thought, well, we'll take the piss out of ourselves first before anyone else can. But I think what that actually did then was probably being vulnerable and showing that human side to us then attracted people to actually want to come and work with us because they could see what we were like. We weren't just some robots at some big, massive corporate agency. We were just clocking in and clocking out and tapping a few keys. That were the people behind the business and we generally do give a shit.

Speaker 00:

Yeah. And I never thought it would. Because I bet, like, this is crazy. LinkedIn now is probably the biggest tool that a recruiter can use, in my opinion. And I remember when we were with our previous employer, I'd maybe log in once every two to three weeks. It was just old school, be on the phones, bulk email marketing. And it's like, now we're on there all day, every day. I

Speaker 01:

think this talks tall poppy syndrome a bit as well. I know I... would get a bit of energy and go, you know what? I'm going to smash LinkedIn and do it. And you do two or three posts. You wouldn't really get much on there. And people would be like, oh, you're wasting your time. What's the point? You know, and it would dampen your spirit a little bit rather than having people lift you up and go, ah, you know what? Keep kicking. Like it's going to, it'll turn out probably the opposite. And because you posting on LinkedIn then highlights the fact that they're not, So that makes them feel bad. So that's what I want to pull you down.

Speaker 00:

Yeah, and to be honest, if there's one thing that we don't like, it's shit that we're not good at, right?

Speaker 01:

Yeah, until we get good at it.

Speaker 00:

Yeah.

Speaker 01:

But the pressure's massive. I don't think pressure goes away. I think anything, I feel more under pressure now than I did back when we started.

Speaker 00:

Do you? Oh, absolutely. Way, way bigger. And I think it ties into another key pillar that we'll talk about later on. But it's that ever-changing goalpost, right? The goals change, the goals get bigger, the pressure gets bigger. And now we're sat here today with a team of eight. Yeah, it's now we're not just... okay, my missus is on maternity leave. I need to pay my own mortgage. It's like, we've got to make sure this business is in a financial position to give stability to these guys because they've all got mortgages to pay. That, for me, that was probably the hardest transition. I think when you're the maker of your own destiny and it's this decision we've put ourselves under, it's now like, okay, these guys have put their trust in you and come on board. How do you do the right thing by them as well?

Speaker 01:

I think there's external pressure as well because we have grown super quick and we... you know, we do post on LinkedIn and social media and make it look fun and hopefully a cool thing that we're doing. There's pressure to keep that up. There's pressure to keep growing at the rate we have, not just wrestling the laurels as well. But you know what? I couldn't live without that pressure.

Speaker 00:

Yeah. Honestly, it's what gets me out of bed every day. Like it's that adrenaline pump. And like you said, that's quite funny to say about the external kind of impression of like having to keep it up. Do you reckon there's people out there that go, what the fuck are these two doing? Like, are they out of their minds? Like, do they have a single clue? about what they're doing.

Speaker 01:

Yeah, I think it depends who it is for how much value you give that, right? If that's someone who's run a lot of businesses and they're going, shit, these boys are growing too quick, they haven't got a clue, I'm going to take that to heart. If it's someone who's never had a crack in life and never actually took a risk, they just want to live this real comfy life, then it's water for ducks, isn't

Speaker 00:

it? Yeah, that's it. And look, to be honest, if they think we don't have a clue, in some senses, they're probably absolutely right. I know what they are. But yeah. I guess, what are your takeaways, mate, in terms of, okay, I'm sat here now, I'm in a salary job, I hate it, I'm waiting for the weekend, I've got this awesome business idea, whether it's in my current profession or another one, but I'm worried about that pressure of sacrificing the salary, going out on my own. What do you think someone can do to start getting comfortable with that?

Speaker 01:

Accept the fact they won't be comfortable, I think is probably the big one. And I think even if it doesn't work and you fail, in quotation marks, The person you become by the time you failed is twice a person who never took the risk. Like what you learn along the way and the people you meet is massive. And you will never think the same way as you did when you were sat clocking at nine, leaving at five, because you know what's out there. I think for us, we started how I think in the world was this big. And now what we know is actually it's huge. And we're still scratching the surface of what's possible. But you don't have a clue about that when you sat in the four walls of an office in Southport.

Speaker 00:

Yeah, that's it. I love that analogy you used. And I think someone sat there, they'll feel like the tiniest fish in the world, but it's just getting comfortable with that. That's always going to be the case if you're doing things right, you know, because when you hit that next step, it gets bigger and bigger. And it kind of ties into the imposter syndrome we have. And it's just accepting that even when you get over that initial thing, okay, now I'm a business owner, I've put that out there to the market, your imposter syndrome just gets bigger about somewhere else.

Speaker 01:

But I think if you try and hide your imposter syndrome, and this is where things are so... Paradoxical, right? Like if you put your guard down, you're vulnerable to people.

Speaker 00:

Great word, by the way, paradoxical. You know what I was thinking?

Speaker 01:

I'm going to absolutely

Speaker 02:

butcher this. I'm sorry, I'm going to have to cut that one. No, he's good. I can't wait for this.

Speaker 01:

Oh, shit. I mean, it was something about when you are vulnerable and you kind of walk into the imposter syndrome and allow it to be around you, people then step in and guide you and want to help. Whereas if you come out of the trap expecting to be this big I am and know it all, You just repel people. They go, oh, you're probably a bit of a knob. I don't want to invest my time and energy and money to help you. And I think that's been something, again, not we didn't have this grand strategy, right, of let's be runnable and get people to help us. But I think it's been a bit of a byproduct of just trying to be really genuine, really authentic, and probably sharing a bit of the losses as well as the good things.

Speaker 00:

Yeah, that was so good, wasn't it? Like early on, like six months in, even 12 months in, when like people heard that the the sort of figures we were hitting and the team growth. They're like, so like, how'd you do it? And we're kind of just like, I don't really know, to be honest. It's until now we know a bit more and we've reflected back. We've actually been able to put down things on a page and go, okay, we feel these are the five key things that have probably got us here.

Speaker 01:

The number one thing though, and I think we both agree, is just graft. No one's going to give you a second of their time unless they can see you absolutely busting your ass and doing everything you possibly can. to make it work even now like it's nice people kind of come to us for advice if they're starting out and stuff and 99% of the people you can see are doing that and I'll give them as much as I can you know but if there's ever someone I think who is just wanted of a free ride or not doing the hard yards themselves we're too busy mate to help people like that

Speaker 00:

and I think as well that person probably needs to self reflect like if you're not ready to absolutely obsess over something and give your whole life and graft your absolute nuts off Business probably isn't for you. So that's probably a problem you can save before you go and make all these mistakes. Go, actually, do you know what? I'm just an employee.

Speaker 01:

Yeah. And there's nothing wrong with that. No. There's a power in knowing yourself, I think.

Speaker 00:

Yeah, 100%. And there's a trade-off to everything. Yes, amazing business gives you all the flexibility. You earn better than if you're an employee in most sectors. you can never really switch off. And the benefits of being an employee, you can have a great life, a comfortable life, love what you do, and you can go home at the end of the day and actually switch off and relax with your family. So there's trade-offs to everything. So I think, again, it's that mindset piece of becoming comfortable with this is what I've chosen. And when shit gets hard and when we have the shit days and we lose out on things, we just kind of have to remind ourselves we chose this.

Speaker 01:

Here's a question for you, mate. Have you ever considered yourself to be lazy?

Speaker 00:

I've had lazy parts of my life, yes, and it's probably come from a place of not enjoying what I'm doing. There's always been one thing in my life, like you all take the piss out of me, I always have like one obsession or fixation, but there have been parts of my life where... I've been playing semi-pro part-time football and I've definitely not been lazy in that sense. I've been obsessed with being the best there, but I've had a job in car sales, which I thought was absolutely shit and hated every minute of it. And I probably was lazy. I didn't dig in. I didn't do the extra work. I didn't want to learn or want to get better. So yeah, times, not anymore. We're just, we're just foot on the gas. Go, go, go. A hundred percent of the time.

Speaker 01:

It used to rattle me high when I was in that kind of moment in that rut where I'm doing the bare minimum. I'm cutting corners. I'm, Looking for any way to do less work. But I used to, you know this, I used to sell scratch cards, not sell, give out scratch cards in pack fare for like a timeshare at a company. It was a four hour shift, right? Just stand there and send them out. I used to rock up an hour late and leave an hour early. Did you used to get paid? For the full four hours? Yeah, it was a bit of money, maybe 20 bucks an hour, plus obviously comms and bonuses and whatever. You could get the people booked in for the actual meeting. which I was crap at and people didn't want to hear about it. I felt like such a pest.

Speaker 00:

Go on, what was your trick then? You said, I walk up to you, I'm walking through the shopping centre now and you've got some scratch eyes. So I'm just chilling like after Red Bull, get some new running shoes.

Speaker 01:

You definitely kind of break the walking line, try and get in front and then there's two scratch guys, right? Yeah. One's got capital letters, the other one's got lowercase. The capital letters is the one that's the winner and you give that to the female. That was the psychology behind it because she'll get more excited. Mate, This is the secret to the industry I'm sharing here. This is absolute gold.

Speaker 00:

How many of the winning ones did you have? Was it just one? Every one.

Speaker 01:

No, you literally have your two decks of the same ones and one's capital letters, one's lowercase.

Speaker 00:

So everyone was a winner?

Speaker 01:

Yeah, but then the caveat is, okay, great, you've won. You do win a holiday, but you've got to go and attend this presentation in the middle of the surface for 90 minutes where they're trying to sell you into the full program. Like if you don't buy, you still actually do go away, which I think they try and sell you again there. But that's the hook. I think that's a scam. Can't confirm or deny, mate.

Speaker 00:

There we go. We have it. Adam Powell, ex-scammer. Business advice 101.

Unknown:

Fuck.

Speaker 01:

But yeah, so that's when I used to think I was lazy because I'm doing half of a four-hour shift. But I just wasn't passionate about it. I just did not give a single shit about what I was doing. But then if I look at it now, it's not work anymore. There's no off switch. It's 24-7. But I never... I get tired for sure, but I never get unenthusiastic.

Speaker 00:

Yeah, 100%. I think... I don't feel like I've worked a day since we started this business. And, you know, we used to be waiting for the weekend. So we'd get down a mermaid ballsy on a Friday, Arvo, 4 p.m. Ads had this great trick where he used to book a fake meeting at like 3 p.m. And he'd bowl out of the office 2.30 straight down the pub. And we're waiting for the weekend. But nowadays, I'm like, sometimes I'm like, what day is it? Because you just love it and you live, breathe it. And it just all kind of blurs into one. And again, I think that comes back to if someone sat there, should I start a business? If you don't think you can live and breathe it every single day, probably not the right business.

Speaker 01:

Yeah, it's difficult, isn't it? Because you think of the people who start businesses selling, I don't know, shoes, right? Unless they absolutely love shoes, is it not the right business for them? I guess they love the backend side of the business rather than the product. I'm not sure if it's fair, but I couldn't personally. I don't think I've got the personality type to be passionate about something I don't actually believe in and obsessive myself.

Speaker 00:

Yeah, there's probably some takeaways from that. I guess if you're not completely emotionally invested in the business, it's probably easier to remove yourself and make those tougher decisions a bit better at times. Because I think sometimes when you're attached and this is our baby and we don't want to fail, there might be things where we've perhaps not ripped the band-aid off when we should have.

Speaker 01:

And that's definitely in our conversations at the moment, right? Is what he's hired well in five years, ten years? Is it still me and her driving the business and being so hands-on? Is it more... stepping away a little bit and having it run itself but I just don't think I can give up the baby

Speaker 00:

I just love it too much yeah we haven't worked that out yet wow I think yeah it's a tough one and that's where you probably learn by doing what you think's right and you're going to fail and then change it but one thing that I want to know early on what did your when we started first two three four weeks whatever what did your average day look like because we talk about graft I know what mine looked like but

Speaker 01:

Yeah, it's just a big long list of people to call. You'd bowl up at, excuse me, I think it was pretty 8am or whatever it was at the time, 7.30. We'd be working around the kitchen table. You'd then stroll off upstairs after you had a bit of a chinwag and a chat about the football on the weekend. And then, yeah, we'd just be head down, bum up, just smashing the phones. And one thing we used to do, we still do it to be fair, and this is a bit of a swish technique, is if you have a kind of trying to get hold of a client, not getting back to you or maybe trying to arrange interviews and you just can't get a hold of them. I used to go outside in the garden and film videos and go, hey, Mr. Client, look, I know you've seen a few calls coming in. This is a bit of a last hurrah. We'd love to get this sorted or whatever it is. Mate, the impact that had was massive. I remember there was one client in particular who, it was kind of going a bit away, a bit cold and that got him back on board and bang, I think it was a, 29k fee which is eight weeks in which for us was absolutely massive doing the shear around the garden

Speaker 00:

yeah i was about to say that i remember when that one came in i think we we had a great first month but the first couple of fees were smaller ones like you just do what you got to do to get some get some money coming in and then this one came in and we were like you've just made twenty nine thousand dollars with some stupid video in your back garden but that's where we were like wow we used to do end of periods

Speaker 01:

like just me and Harv right so any periods like any month that's what you track our billings in the sales cycle yeah and then so Friday afternoon we weren't drinking at the time we'd get two chairs out from the lounge put them on the little AstroTurf in my garden and crack a zero out and put some tunes on

Speaker 00:

yeah They were the good old days. And I just realised, when you said I used to get here, get to yours with a coffee in the morning, head off upstairs, that's where my desk was, an office. I didn't just go upstairs and put the feet up. Don't

Speaker 03:

say.

Speaker 02:

Don't you, Des? That's my fiancée

Speaker 03:

you're

Speaker 00:

thinking about. Oh, shit. Oh, bloody hell. Anyway, no, my day was bloody manic. Like, obviously, Blake was here by that point. I think we're six months in. And I used to get up, gym in the morning, whatever, get to Paley's, rip in 8 till 4.30, get home, do dinner, bath time, bedtime. And I remember I used to get the laptop out at 7 o'clock till like 9.30, 10, just peppering people on LinkedIn. And people must be thinking, this guy's a freak.

Speaker 01:

But I think that's that mentality shift, isn't it? Like there is no hours anymore. And people can kind of sense that as well. They can see you busting your ass, messaging at 7, 8 o'clock. They're the people you want to work with, the guys who genuinely go above and beyond work. to get you on board as a client, to keep you as a client, to do a good job. You don't want to work with a guy who's there just ticking in because his manager told him to do an extra couple of calls. People can sense that these days. The bullshit radar is so sharp.

Speaker 00:

Yeah. And we like, we had no runs on the board. Like first couple of weeks, someone goes, all right, why should I work with Harwell? We're like, ah, because we'll, I'll work harder than anyone else, mate. It's like, how many times am I say I've heard that? But it's, you just got to do what you've got to do to kind of get the early wins.

Speaker 01:

That was the hard thing as well. I remember doing all the content early doors, actually crewed it with Serge and the crew. Okay. Why should people work at Harwell? We

Speaker 00:

just sat on the sofa like two lemons, weren't we? We think we're all right. I think we're off decent.

Speaker 01:

Yeah. But now, well, even now probably it's tough to answer, right? There's so many different parts to it. Well, I think people should, but that's not what this is about.

Speaker 00:

That's it. And yeah, That kind of probably ties into the next point. And that's that we've kind of tried to become marketing masterminds. Like we'd left a massive global agency that every single person knows about where we were just tiny, tiny cogs in a big machine. And all of a sudden, no one knows who the bloody Al Harwell are. People probably, half the people, you know, because we had to go and chase new people. They didn't know who we were. And we were like, fuck, how the hell do we elevate ourselves and build a brand for the business and ourselves quickly?

Speaker 01:

And he was just posting shit on LinkedIn. Pretty much. And I think that came from, I think the Swish content at the time, I think. I think it was, yeah, that was his MCP, right? So three posts a week, real easy. One about yourself, one about your company and one about your product, which in recruitment is probably a candidate you're working with who's an A grader. And I think we got good at doing the three and then we said, okay, let's do one a day. And then it's okay, let's do video content. And that's, Probably one of the scariest things I've ever done. I think that one of those first videos.

Speaker 00:

Mate, I've got some on my phone. Maybe I'll have to dig one out and we'll post it on the Instagram. By the way, go and follow the Instagram. But I think the first few videos, I was stiff as a board. Like it was horrible. I used to put my sunnies on so we could hide behind my sunnies. And I used to remember like trying to walk through like lives in a gated community so I'll be walking around and like holding the camera at an angle so I've got the palm trees in the background I've got my sunnies on like yeah this looks sick there's a lawnmower going off in the background I was like yeah this looks sick and I'm just waffling on about a candidate or a job but do you know what it fucking worked and

Speaker 01:

I think because it was raw people saw they're just having a massive crack they knew it wasn't MTV Hollywood's production right like it was just a fellow with his iPhone walking in the sun just trying to absolutely have a crack and look at I don't want to say we're absolute trendsetters, but it does seem like a lot more creators are on board. I was going to say the same.

Speaker 00:

I don't want to claim that it was us, but I scroll down my LinkedIn feed now and it's all selfie videos. I was like, you

Speaker 02:

buggers.

Speaker 01:

You're not good on them.

Speaker 00:

Like,

Speaker 01:

absolutely good on them because it's scary. It really is. And when you look at your camera roll, right, like it's all the same picture because you've recorded the same video 40 times and fucked up a couple of words. But I think coming out the other side of that, what... We don't even know the impact it's had. I really don't think. I think we know 10% of it. I think when we pick up the phone to people and we have first time we spoke to them, I think we sound familiar. I think they know our voices. They might even picture our faces from seeing us on there. I think we'll never truly know the impact of just checking our faces on camera.

Speaker 00:

Yeah, we still even see it now. Like I think back to one where a chap, he was a CFO at Billabong. He was there like 20 years, like massive company trying to get in with him for decades. so many attempts like it was borderline harassment phone calls emails texts LinkedIn mails he actually came into the market for a new job and I had a CFO gig that he was interested in so we went and sat down for coffee and I shook his hand mate nice to meet you and he's like yeah I feel like I already know you because all your bloody face is on my LinkedIn the whole time and I just think that's That's the impact that you don't see. And there might be people thinking like, bloody hell, these boys are doing great, but they don't even like it. They don't like your posts. They don't tell you. So it's just that resilience to keep putting that content out there without really getting a tangible ROI.

Speaker 01:

If you were going to start a new business, you're starting recruitment maybe, you're in a business and you want to get into posting more things on social, doing more video content, putting more photos on, what would you say the best place to start is?

Speaker 00:

just action, action, just post every single day. I was listening to Daria, the CEO the other day, Stephen Bartlett's partner, she started a new business. And he just said, do not worry about creating the perfect content because really to the naked eye, no one's going to see it and go, okay, that camera angle is amazing. The sound quality is amazing. It's just what catches people's attention. And you're always going to reach your audience, whether you're posting high level quality or just a selfie on a phone. And I think she set a challenge, a thousand day challenge. She's gone for the first 1000 days of this business. I'm going to post content online every single day. I

Speaker 01:

love that. And looking at the ones you're talking about, be impacting, you have no idea. I did a bit of a review at Chrissy to see, oh yeah, which post of mine has got, which post of mine has got the most engagement, the most impressions. And it was literally one by saying, if you're ever upset or angry about something, just remember that Harvey Rivers still goes to

Speaker 02:

the barbers and pays 60 bucks for a haircut.

Speaker 00:

Do you know what that actually rattled me? I actually don't go to the barbers anymore. I bought myself a shaver and I've just zipped it all. Top tier.

Speaker 01:

But now you're bang on. Action's the way to go. Just get it done. The first one would be horrible. The second one would be much better. But by 2030, 100, 200, it's second nature. And I think when you do start seeing the impact, when people start coming directly and inbound leads to you or people start connecting with you and saying, oh yeah, I've seen your content. That's when it becomes a lot easier and you go, actually, if I stop doing this now, I'm actually doing myself a disservice and the business a disservice.

Speaker 00:

Yeah. And it's just those baby steps. Like it's taking action. Like we look at anything in life. The guys that are setting the world record now for marathon running, they didn't come out of the womb sprinting two minute 47 Ks for a marathon. They started with their first run, right? And it gets easier. It gets easier. You get more comfortable. And I think as well, it's about building your personal brand as much as the business brand. I think you look at like Richard Branson. He's got more followers than Qantas. Yeah. Elon Musk has got more followers than NASA. So it's like, it's, it's the power. And yes, I've got a business, but people know you. Okay. They're the recruitment guys. Not, oh, that's Harwell Consulting. And it worked for us. We even put our own faces on the side of our first office, didn't we?

Speaker 01:

Jeez. Yeah, we did. A lot of photos we got of that, didn't we? People stuck in the traffic, sending us videos. We actually got a client on from it, didn't we as well? Yeah. John Holland, guys building the light rail. Yeah. Massive. So we've seen our faces all over LinkedIn. Yeah. And then one of their stations, their building or the office they have there is on basically at the front of where our office was. I mean, literally you've got me and Harvey just grinning, standing at the highway all day, every day. And he called us about the bloom as a, Hey, seeing you guys everywhere. Can you come recruit engineers for us? Initially I was like, Oh, actually we don't really do engineers. I'd have to like speak to Harvey and put the phone down. I was like, Hey, what do you think my John Honda's called? What engineers should we do it? What did you say?

Speaker 00:

I said, what did you say? And you were like, oh, I told him we don't really do it. And I was like, well, fucking call him back and tell him Harvey used to do engineering for six months. We're in.

Speaker 01:

Yeah, sorry, mate. I got that wrong there. Harvey did it for us. Come see you tomorrow.

Speaker 00:

And you know what? Jokes aside, we wouldn't ever take anything on that we didn't think we could deliver on. We went and sat down with them. It wasn't just engineering. They needed support in back office and admin roles. And to this day, we had a catch up with them the other day. And I'd like to think that they're pretty happy and we've nailed it. And that's a massive client that we've onboarded from having the balls or the ego maybe to chuck our faces on the office on the Gold Coast Highway I

Speaker 01:

reckon that was the saddest part of moving out that first office and coming into this bigger one was having to rip that down

Speaker 00:

yeah so now we've put them on the window behind us

Speaker 01:

and what about BD then mate so business development which in recruitment is a massive part of building your business right as the name says you can't really shy away from it if you don't naturally love it you've got to find a way to love it What was your, I guess, appetite and what got you to smash down the volume of calls and meetings that you did when you first started?

Speaker 00:

I think it's the old age saying of people are more likely to move away from pain than they are to move to pleasure.

Speaker 02:

Clip that

Speaker 00:

up. That is class, by the way. But yeah, honestly, I just... a bit you know it might be a weird thing quite quite not not morbid but quite negative but I just think okay well how do I go home and look my partner in the face or in the eye and go okay yeah I can't pay the mortgage this month I've got no money coming in because I've got a fear of picking up the phone and getting rejected I just used to tell myself that every day and you know what someone might tell you to fuck off or you might make a shit call by the end of the day There's another 10 recruiters that have called them. Same thing's probably happened. You could call them three days later and they've forgotten who you are anyway.

Speaker 01:

I don't think it happens that much, though. No, I don't think. Really? Probably fucking five times. I've got a shit memory, so maybe I don't count that much. Told you he loves

Speaker 00:

the

Speaker 01:

beers. Five times I reckon someone's gone like, mate, actually don't fucking call me. Peace off.

Speaker 00:

Yeah.

Speaker 01:

I don't know. We've almost ever been that rude. They might go like, we're sweet. We don't need you. Cool. But no one's ever that nasty, I don't think.

Speaker 00:

Yeah, you get the odd ones, but yeah, you're completely right. Some people give you nice, polite rejections nowadays. But I think BD is a dying trend. We talk about building the personal brand, the marketing, and absolutely, I think in five years' time, the best agencies out there are going to be the best marketers and have the best brand. But BD and getting on the phones is still the main thing that's going to bring you business. We get inbound leads from the marketing, but there's not millions of them. It's not all the fees we put on the board.

Speaker 01:

I think the marketing isn't just so you're an inbound business. I think the marketing is so you've got the familiarity. So when you do do the cold BD call, they know about you, they know how well, they trust the brand, they know we're authentic, they know we do the right thing. So then to go, hey, do you want to grab a coffee? Do you want to get lunch? It's not an absolute stranger. They know what we're about. They recognize us. I think that's the power of it for me rather than expecting something Someone to see a funny video, call us up, and yeah, here's 10 jobs.

Speaker 00:

Yeah, absolutely. Anyone that you see, even myself, I see a new brand I like or a new business or a new person, the first thing you do is Google them. So you need to make sure that you've got the branding behind you for that, but the Google and the research doesn't come if you haven't done the phone call.

Speaker 01:

Did they see Harvey Rivers pro footballer on Google when they told you?

Speaker 00:

Not anymore, mate. That ship sailed. They'd probably see Harvey Rivers, bold man, goes for $50 haircut.

Speaker 02:

I'm a loser.

Speaker 00:

Talking of Google reviews, do you remember that? Do you remember that lady that stitched us up? We were like, yeah, we've got five, we're five star Google reviews. And I think we'd moved out of our office maybe a week before and someone's jumped on, one star review, office isn't even here.

Speaker 01:

Yeah, it was tough to take because Google was a nightmare to try and change the address on. I think I got left with that job. You fancied it. So that took me the best of the full week to try and work out. And yeah, the bugger, the five-star reviews went down to 4.9 because she couldn't find the office. Didn't fancy picking up the phone and giving us a call though.

Speaker 00:

To be fair, it goes through to you. You probably wouldn't answer it anyway. But I think the landscape, mate, of recruitment, I think whilst, you know, there's loads of talk about AI automation and tech and the tech stack now available to us as recruiters and even small agencies is incredible. Far beyond far more advanced than what we ever used in a big global but I think what that has done is it's bought through a generation of lazy recruiters and they're hiding behind bulky emails which let's be honest most of them go into spam they're hiding behind LinkedIn messages and it's the same now we're in a position where we're business owners we get BD'd all the time by sales companies automation companies and the ones that just send an email or just delete it don't even read

Speaker 03:

it

Speaker 00:

but the guys that actually you know, pick up the phone, give us a call, and we'll actually give you a crack because there's so little people doing it out

Speaker 01:

there. Hang on, I think Bartlett said it before, Stephen Bartlett, when one thing gets popular, the polar opposite also becomes popular. So what I'm talking about here with AI and streamlining and technology, on the flip side of that, that people connection is so important. I think people are so bored of just receiving emails and automated things text messages or whatever it might be. They want actually interaction and connection and they want to work with people who they can build relationships with. People are so over the transactional style of business I've found anyway since starting Harwell and they genuinely want people to know, understand the business, understand what they're after and how you might be able to have value to them and then go and deliver that with a world-class service.

Speaker 00:

Yeah, do you know what? The recruiters out there that do work transactionally and do it year on year on year and make money good on them. Like you're a better person than me. Like I just think of it as like the leaky bucket analogy. Like you absolutely, you can sit there on seek and just pump resumes at companies that you've never spoken to before and you will get results. Like ultimately you will get results, but you don't build any long-term relationships. You don't build, okay, I associate Adam with adding so much value to this project because he's just found me a construction manager that has saved me $350,000. Yes, I paid him a 25, 30K recruitment fee, but that's the impact he's had on my business. You don't generate those credits with those people. So I just think, how is that a long-term solution?

Speaker 01:

And it's that thing about having five years experience. Have you got five years experience or have you got one year experience five times? I feel like if you're always just speaking to new people all the time, it's just transactional. you'd never get to that next level or even that utopia where actually I've got a reputation and people call you and you get jobs referred to and candidates referred. And that's where the fulfillment comes. When someone else has put their name or their reputation on referring you and then you go and deliver. That's top tier for me.

Speaker 00:

Yeah. And do you know what? It's a shift that we've seen recently. I've seen so many companies now approaching us even and saying, hey, look, you've done really well on three or four finance roles. You now know our business inside and out. Can you come and do a HR manager? Can you do a marketing manager? And that's something that we're exploring. We've implemented that with our clients that we work with, which are small to medium-sized businesses. I've been sat down having lunches the last few weeks with some of the bigger companies, some of the largest companies on the Gold Coast. How can we do that across your business? Because they're obviously very different. Whilst we know their business is inside out, I'm still not your guy to go and recruit a techie. Mm-hmm. So it's how we can keep implementing that, which is probably a flip on what the industry used to be, where it was big, massive global agencies and you as one person would sit in your hole. You know, you recruit HR, you recruit technology, which is great because you are well connected in that industry, but it's very transactional and you might get runs on the board with one business owner and he goes, oh, now can you do a HR person for me? You have to pass that on to someone else in the business who might not like it there and it's just turning up and cruising every day and then all of a sudden you've lost that client.

Speaker 01:

All of that brand trust, that brand rapport you built is just gone because that person doesn't give as much of a shit as you do.

Speaker 00:

Yeah, exactly. That was good actually from a couple of BD calls. We got quite deep

Speaker 01:

there. Leading on to that, BD calls are great. You grow a new business. What was the point where you felt we had to start hiring more people to help with the volume of work we had on? Why did we decide to grow?

Speaker 00:

I think there was two prongs. I think one... The volume, absolutely. Like we were getting pumped to the point where we probably felt we were stretching ourselves or the trade-off to keep giving a good service was we have to pump ourselves with massive, massive hours and we were already doing big hours. And the other one was a podcast I was listening to and it was that penny drop moment. And it was like, if you just have a business where the minute you step away, the business stops, you don't have a business. You've just created a job for yourself. working for yourself effectively. So I think that was a two-prong approach of one, we don't want to turn people away. We want to become go-to people on the Gold Coast for recruitment. But the other one was not an exit strategy, but a long-term plan of, you know, have we got a business or a job?

Speaker 01:

You know, as much as I was probably more opposed to growing than you were, I enjoyed our little kitchen table life and beers in the garden on Friday Harlow. It was definitely the right decision and building the team of people that we've got, that was probably what I wasn't prepared for. I probably expected it to be a similar level of person with a similar level of passion and similar level of desire as our old job, right? Where it was a bit of a drain trying to get people motivated and you walk in there and it's a little bit soulless. Whereas now we've got people who love it just as much as we do. You know, you've got... They all profit. They all hire well through and through. And if days where we're coming and we're a little bit jaded, a little bit tired, the energy lifts us. So it's worked both ways big time.

Speaker 00:

One thing that I actually think is one of the most positive things that's impacted me from growing the team, and it's something that didn't even cross my mind before we did it, was how much we've had to raise our performance. Not in the sense of just billings. Yes, we have to be the bigger billers and show people where the end goal is, but Also, just how you turn up every day. Like it's so easy when there's no one relying on you to cut corners or just cruise and I'll do 10 dials today. But it's like, no, we've got to set an example every single day and rip in because if they see you lose passion or take your foot off the gas, they're going to follow.

Speaker 01:

What would you say you've learned or grown at the most since we've brought the team on? And I'd probably say the last kind of group of hires that we did because Andy and Chloe... Yes, there were new staff, but Andy, you went to uni with Chloe, we'd worked at for many years. So it was kind of a bit of an easy one, then bringing in people fresh to the business who we didn't really have relationships with. What would you say were some of the things you had to really level up at to get them settled in?

Speaker 00:

Probably that it's not a one size fits all approach. Like I think we were very blessed when, Andy and Chloe came in. They were our mates. So in terms of that motivation, it was like it was their own and they'd worked together for two or three years previously. So it was a well-oiled machine and we didn't really have to manage them. But one big thing I've learned is, you know, managing Andy, I manage him in a very different way than we'd manage Renee or Alana, for example. So it was probably us reflecting ourselves. And there's been things that we've had to learn and we've had to take ownership of and get better at over time because I'd never managed a team before in recruitment. So that was probably the biggest learn for me. What

Speaker 01:

about

Speaker 00:

you?

Speaker 01:

Knowing your roles. I think me and you are very different personality wise, which is such a superpower because I'm more of a, and tell me if I'm talking shit here, I'm more of a leader, more of a doer, kind of follow the way I work and then you'll be fine. I think you're And maybe it's because you've got a little Blakey and you've got that kind of fatherly spirit now, but you're a bit more nurturing. I think you can help people on a bit more of a personal level, whereas I'm a little bit more...

Speaker 00:

Sorry, I've got an alarm. Just a reminder to go and get my meal prep. I'll turn that one off. Don't forget that, mate.

Speaker 01:

Yeah, I think you nurture people a bit more naturally than I do, whereas I'm a bit more, this is the job, this is how you should be doing it, kind of do as I do.

Speaker 00:

Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. And that is genuinely a superpower. And it's not just in that people management side of things you know, you're very good at actioning things quickly. Whereas I like to step back and analyze them. Whereas ads just does them fucking really quickly and like ends up buying the wrong desks. And we don't realize that they're the wrong desks until we've built six of the bloody things.

Speaker 01:

That was actually the darkest day in our journey. It was Christmas. It was over the Christmas break in the first office. Yeah. Aircon wasn't working like 35 degrees. So hot. We've been to Ikea. We drove up there, got a mate's van, big shout out to Louie. What a bloke. And we've got them back down and then we're building these things. And you'd have about two bottles of wine the night before as well. You were hanging. Oh, I won as well. It gets you. Yeah, we set these things up and we've got, I think the success, we've got to the fifth one and then we're going, hang on a minute, did these actually stand up? And no, they didn't. So we had to rip them all back down. I think we flogged on Marketplace didn't we?

Speaker 00:

Yeah, we did. Yeah, that's a great way to get cash back into your pocket out of the business.

Speaker 01:

I see. But yeah, that was a tough one.

Speaker 00:

But anyway, the next step, we kind of touched on it earlier on in the episode, but it's the ever-changing goalposts.

Speaker 01:

It's difficult, isn't it? Because you sound like a bit of a wanker, I think, when you start talking about this. And I really struggle to have these conversations with people who aren't also on the journey or already been and done it. Because what we wanted out of the first six to 12 months is, yeah, we went and smashed out the park, which is great. But then you don't just stop, right? You don't just go, I want to go and do another six to 12 months, the same level. the goalpost goes so further forward, which is awesome, but exhausting because you never feel like you've made it.

Speaker 00:

Yeah, that's what I was about to touch on. It's that fine line between you need to kind of have that elite mindset of you're never fulfilled. You know, you always want to achieve more, but then you've also got the toxicity of I'm never fulfilled. I'm grafting, grafting away for, you know, 50, 60 hours a week with taking big risks, putting pressure on ourselves. And I'm still coming home going, I need more. I need more. It's that fine line.

Speaker 01:

Do you think it's healthy or unhealthy? Hey? Do you think it's healthy or unhealthy to have that mindset?

Speaker 00:

Healthy. I think look at our lives now compared to two, three years ago. Like the things that we're going to be able to do, the life that we're going to be able to live, you know, unless a meteor hits the earth and this business goes to shit. The life that our children are going to live, our partners, I think that's a real healthy change. And Look, secretly, I love the pressure. I love coming in every day going, this is a big decision. It could all go tits up.

Speaker 01:

I think I actually need it when I'm comfortable. I'll just go, not off the rails, but my work ethic probably drops a little bit. My intensity drops, which I know when I'm on my absolute A game, I am all action. I'm intense. Things are getting done. I'm moving a million miles an hour. And when I don't need to, I just drop the ball.

Speaker 00:

Yeah. Do you think that's, in the sense of that question then, are entrepreneurs or business owners, are they born, are they made? What do you think?

Speaker 01:

I've actually got no idea, to be honest, because I'm thinking back to those two shifts in Pac Fair. That guy, with the work ethic he had, wouldn't be able to do all the stuff we do now. So I think you've just got to... I don't actually know the answer to that. What do you think?

Speaker 00:

I think there's definitely some people naturally... are always kind of searching, always think there's more out there. There's always once more out there. I think I look back, like my nan says to me now, she's like, always knew you boys, like always knew you were going to have a crack. She's like, because even from the age of like nine, 10, 11, she's like, you're always just like wondering, there's more, there's more. So I think definitely that's nature. But absolutely, we've probably had the success because of the way we've dove into personal development. We've obsessed over it. that's then the nurture part of it

Speaker 01:

I think that links back into football really well as well because all you're doing season upon season is getting better when you're a kid you're going from under 12s to under 13s to 14s and if you don't get better you don't make the cut for the next year so you've got to invest in yourself you've got to kick a ball down the park by yourself and it's pissing down rain and no one else wants to come I think that coming into business is such a cheat code because it's not a burden you know it's just what you do if you want to get better at it well you've got to do the work, you

Speaker 00:

know? And that's how he manages people as well. With exactly that tonality as well. Just do it. No, you go back to the football analogy, even when you go through into the pro game or semi-pro game, it's worse than year on year. Yeah, you're on year on year contracts, but it's a week to week basis. As a goalkeeper, you know, you might pull off 25 amazing saves and you win 1-0 you're an absolute legend, but then Tuesday night comes around, you've got another game, you throw three through your legs and you're the biggest dickhead ever. What are the crowds

Speaker 01:

shouting at you?

Speaker 00:

Yeah, I had a good one, a couple of good ones actually. One was a shout from a crowd, it's like we've got a goalkeeper with no arms. And then I had another one, a tweet, which was really nice, thanks for publicising this one. They were like, are your goalie gloves crisp packets?

Unknown:

LAUGHTER

Speaker 02:

that's top tier

Speaker 00:

yeah but look you know They make you the person you are today. And you just can't rest on your laurels, right? You can have the best, especially in perm recruitment, you can have the best month in the world. You do 100K, I'm amazing, I'm a legend. As soon as week one Monday comes, you're back to zero. You can't rest on that last month. Here we go again.

Speaker 01:

The personal development's massive, I think. And spending the money as well. But yes, there's so much free stuff out there, YouTube and all the other resources. But I think when you put your money where your mouth is, like I think we spent... I guess we can say the numbers are 18K in the first six weeks of starting hardware to invest in the two-day immersion with Swish. Pretty fucking ballsy looking back to be fair. But if we hadn't backed ourselves, we wouldn't have then sat down with Tucky and got all the sales systems, the sales process, the sales cycle in place, which the opportunity cost of that would have been incredible.

Speaker 00:

Oh, it was massive. Like we walked in there day one sales immersion, like green business owner, And he was like, so boys, what's your sales process? And you were like, well, we just call people, get the jobs on. And then we call more people, find people for the jobs and fill them. And Tucky's like, yeah, well done. Like that's recruitment, but what is your sales process? And that was kind of that moment of realization. We're like, shit, we've got nothing.

Speaker 01:

There's a long way to go here.

Speaker 00:

Yeah. And I think by that point we would toy in with the idea of, okay, we could bring people on like Andy, but when they walk through the door, And we need to give them some sort of blueprint of this is the hardware way. This is how we do it. We've got nothing to give them.

Speaker 01:

And that's one thing I can't stand. I think that's why we've managed to do all right so far is everything we do. There's got to be class. Apart from some of the dodgy LinkedIn videos, but in terms of the branding and the way we work, unless we can do a really, really, really good job, I'd rather not do

Speaker 00:

it. Yeah, most definitely. And I think there's levels to that as well. Like even now, we rewrote, that process or that blueprint that the sales version, I think I was back, yeah, literally a month into business. And then, you know, and even nowadays working, putting, investing a lot of money into working with Matt Cossons, he comes in excellence in recruitment process. And we're like, you know, Lance said to me the other day, she's like, I've not even touched the sides on this job yet. She's just like, there's so many more layers. So it's like, even now those processes, procedures are just constantly leveling up.

Speaker 01:

It's massive, isn't it? And it's how exciting is that? The personal development, that lights the fire in you as well because it shakes off your ego. You think you might have cracked it. We're 18 months in, we've got a good team, but still doing that and seeing other people who are well ahead of us and they're still committed to learning. It really just gives your head a bit of a wobble and go, actually, there's so far to go.

Speaker 00:

Yeah, absolutely. One chat we like about is competitors as well. So many people say, don't worry about your competitors. They're not competitors, but I think they're a blessing in disguise. If we didn't have competitors out there in the industry that are snapping around our clients and trying to outdo us, it would be so easy to put your foot off the gas, not worry about taking your processes to the next level. For me, that's what drives you on. You've got to stay on top of your game.

Speaker 01:

Do you reckon the goalposts will ever stop?

Speaker 00:

nah no way not with what we've got in the works

Speaker 01:

yeah we've got a hell of a year kicking off this year and this is a massive part of it as well i think being able to share stories about where we've been over the last 18 months what we've learned what we've messed up um because there's been plenty of them as well and there's been a lot of tough times um yeah to go with the good i think it's really cool to have this little space where we can share that with people who might be where we were two years ago a year ago it might even be a few years ahead but I feel like they're stuck in a bit of a rut I want to hear two English fellas talk shit about it

Speaker 00:

that's it and like make no mistake we've had some great times we've been you know nominated for business awards on the Gold Coast within our first year but there have been some really shit times there's been days where deals have fallen over there's been days where a client has gone under that owed us a lot of money like they're the sort of days that you're not out there pumping on LinkedIn going, oh, this was class. Yeah, so it's just us trying to paint the most real picture for anyone that's on this journey or wants to go on this journey. Because I know that I found a lot of comfort in listening to podcasts and people that have been there and done it. So when you are having those shit days and you hear some fella that's gone through exactly the same thing, you kind of just dust yourself off and go, well, it's not because I'm shit or we're shit. Like, that's just normal. You've just got to keep cracking on.

Speaker 01:

So people are going to tune in Next week and the week after that and the rest of the weeks you've got lined up, who are they going to be hearing about, mate? What have we got in store?

Speaker 00:

I think we've just given them everything we've got, to be honest, mate. I've got nothing else. No more

Speaker 03:

nuggets?

Speaker 00:

No, I've got some. We've got some with some of Australia's largest businesses turning around performance of their employees. And we've got a chap that quit a salary job, moved to Bali, worked 20 hours a week on his laptop and made 300K a year, which I think we can all agree we'd love to hear how he's done it. So there's some big things coming up.

Speaker 01:

As much as, I guess the way we're going to approach it is actionable high value takeaways, right? What can I listen to this and jot down five things, which then if I implement those, it's going to make my life, my business better. Essentially. And I look selfishly for us. We're going to become way better. by speaking to these people. That's what I'm most keen for.

Speaker 00:

Yeah, a hundred percent. I like the realness of it. Like, you know, the last podcast we did, we had some incredible, incredible people and we spoke about their stories, which is amazing for us and awesome to learn. But for the everyday person that might be listening that we want to inspire, it's so hard when you see these people on that pedestal and go, okay, well, that's amazing. You know, they're the leader of the biggest infrastructure on the Gold Coast. So they've got a group of companies that turn over $250 million a year. How the hell do I get there?

Speaker 01:

It feels out of reach, doesn't it?

Speaker 00:

Yeah. So.

Speaker 01:

I reckon that was all right. Episode one.

Speaker 00:

Yeah. Do we hit record?

Speaker 01:

We'll find out. Done. See you next week.