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[Music] Izzy Whitley from alh Welcome to my podcast cheers brother thanks for having
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me on hey mate thanks for coming over it's been a hell of a day hell of a day
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it's uh at the moment uh quter to8 on a Thursday morning um you made me come
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around to your well you didn't make me you suggested I come around to your house at 4:30 yeah we had two options
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and if you didn't pick that one I was going to be pretty disappointed so how
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you pick that one so option so yeah that was option one which was the harder option of the two so what's the morning
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entailed uh so 4:30 you you came at mine you're early you're on time which is was
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always good uh we jumped in the uh ice bath for a few minutes each and then uh went out to
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HQ did a little session had a little sauna had a coffee and here we are it's
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only quarter to it and this is like an average morning for you yeah when I'm in Oakland
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yeah yeah yeah yeah so you wanted to give me an insight into what an average morning for you so you you just went
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putting it on Dick swinging this was no no no no yeah yeah hooking into it it's
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routine is important for me right I like esecially when I'm here in in in Oakland
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it's um it's probably the only time I can get a sense that I'm in control of
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my time and kind of using it to the best of my ability and and and getting getting a sense of kind of control is of
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that time a good thing oh and I I I I loved it and um I was more than happy to do it because if you're going to give me
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time to go on my podcast it's interesting to get more of an insight into who you are before we sit down to
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do it um I I was last night when I was um researching you I was trying to think how
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do do we know each other through Sarah Tetro Sarah Tetro is a good friend of mine s Sarah F now um mother F that's
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what I call her um yep so I was about to do my first marathon with my brother banjo um and uh I said gez what do I do
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she goes message Dom he's done hundreds so that's when I flinged off a DM and uh
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sent you message I said quick F I was actually at the start line about to run and I I think she sent you a photo and I
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was like quicki tips man you're like you only run your first marathon once and I
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was like enjoy a pretty good tip yeah what else could I say too late to train actually I got a voice note for her
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she's in London at the moment yeah oh that's Bluetooth hang on just turn the Bluetooth
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off way to motivate is to tell him he can't do something like you'll never be the CEO
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of a big company that kind of thing not that I've ever met a human who needs
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less motivating than he does he's got enough drive for everyone yeah Fair cool
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yeah that's probably a perfect way perfect description I see but I've um I
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did quite a bit of research on you you're a curious guy so I feel like there's two trades of thought there's
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people there's like um you know your haters that you can use as Mot negativity like that you can use as fuel
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um but then on the other hand Rob um said to you once um oh this is this company's worth like 30 million a year
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or whatever and you you weren't thinking that big so you're like well if he says
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it then I can do it so it's like you just find positivity from everywhere look dude I you know every day first and
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foremost every day you can wake up and and move your body and do something you want to do and get out of beds a good
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day and uh it's just about kind of being optimistic and and positive on on on
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things that happen throughout it so you know I latch on to things and and there's probably a few comments a year
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that I'm like oh and I'll just you know really hone in and Hyper focus on on
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achieving that and looking forward to that so I'm always kind of open ears for
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for one of those comments which come around every few months and I'll focus on it yeah another thing I found um
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quite weird this morning um I'd heard this about you and I thought this is something we'd have in common I if I
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find a song I love I I can listen to it on repeat listen to and over again um but you like we when we were on the ice
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bath on your deck at home we had this it's a and it wasn't a great song it's
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just a beat some it's a week beat man yeah Panic Room yeah not even a great no
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it's not going to be a classic it's not a Timeless so you're playing on that on
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Bluetooth in your home then for the car ride 20-minute car ride to your to your alh headquarters we had it there then
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you put on Bluetooth um while we were doing a workout then it was playing while we were in the sauna then on the
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way back into town yeah um So Pro probably heard that Panic Room song which is again nothing song maybe 30
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times this morning yeah well it's consistency for me right it it it just kind of helps me almost Anchor Point
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back into to whatever I'm thinking that day so yeah but I've also heard you talk
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about the importance of time and in particular a thing called compounding time which I'm familiar with um wouldn't
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that time be better spent listening to podcasts which can make you better well hey I'm on a flight tonight so I'll
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listen to a couple of the the Dom Harvey ones all right okay all right I feel like um in the easy Wily story this sort
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of um three there's um um the early years you know the childhood the foundation then there's the um adversity
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which is a very very short but a very significant chapter over a couple of years in your life y um and then there's
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the beginning of an entrepreneur which I feel like you're still in that chapter
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now just just getting out of neutral in that chapter I feel like um we start with the current chapter the
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entrepreneur chapter and then we'll go right back to chapter one and chapter
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two okay so alh outet labor High was Ackland labor higher and labor higher yep um branches around the country you
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you start you're 29 now yep you started this business at the age of 21 with 500
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bucks yep so what like what do you do when you start as someone that's never
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started a business what where does 500 bucks go it went into the incorporation fee it went into going and um paying The
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Upfront cost for a phone plan um and it paid for my first uh Facebook um paid advert on our Facebook page so it was
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gone pretty quick 500 go that's nothing so um yeah actually for anyone that doesn't know what is Oakland labor out
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labor so we're a temporary and a permanent Staffing Solution um to any range of businesses that are just
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needing some support in in their in their internal staff but kind of bring it in we I like to say it's a tap on and
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off service but sometimes the people need to tap on for longer than they're not so we just love coming in injecting
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some of of our culture and through the people that we put in and and helping service those needs and this has
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dominated your 20s and you've grown it into a behemoth and I know you you'd
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still say you're in the startup phase potentially yeah yeah in my opinion where for where we're going to get to
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then yeah yeah so th those um those early years where you you have $500 and you pump that into starting up the
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company with a Facebook ad um how do you survive like what do you do it's funny
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like I look back and I think you know for me even at 21 on 500 bucks I was on study link at the time I
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was still living the best life I'd ever lived so it's not like my life ever had
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to scale back to start this business and I look back and I think each year I've
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never overextended my lifestyle that if we ever had to I ever had to pull it back then I I could pull it back so
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whilst I can look back and be like how did I do that that was still that was great for me that was the that 21 I was
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living better than I was when I was 20 when I was 20 I was living better than I was when I was 9 so my life only got
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better and you don't know what you don't know I didn't know what it was like to
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live in a better environment or or or surroundings in what I did so I was fine I was buzzing it's not till now I look
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back and I think that might be a bit tricky to to dial back in were were you making money from um from day one or
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were you just suring on that study link dude I didn't pay myself for 3 years the
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the first salary I paid myself was in year four and that was on that was $375,000 and for me that felt great so
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how how are you scraping by in those early years well I was I was studying at the time but I'd still go and do I'd go
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and do laboring for alh and I'd pay myself for whatever work I'd do on site
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but I wouldn't take myself any money out of the pot that I was trying to grow to
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to continue pushing so what keep so you're you're you're a driven guy um so before that
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you were um a very good footballer oh I wouldn't say very good but yeah you you
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were devoted in your hardw working um so you're in this alh thing for a few years
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I suppose you're seeing some sort of some sort of growth or some sort of green Roots whatever you want to call it
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but what what keeps you from getting bored and thinking now I got to move on to something else like you know that's
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actually a relatively common question because it took a long time before I started to feel any tangible or or
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physical or visible results in the business especially in the way I was living but you know I've never done this
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for a dollar figure I've always done it for the challenge that that comes with
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it and I think that's what always excited me I was con conly being exposed out of my comfort zone um and having to
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learn on the go how I can resolve this problem how I can do better um so that constant kind of constant push was
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addictive and it still is can't help myself so can you remember the the very
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first one in the early days like first client first paycheck first whatever yeah it was a landscaping one um and I
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never forget I was like oh this is great and I I kind of said to myself I just need to get 10 5 to 10 10 people out on
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site and then I can do that for a year and I'll decide what I want to do next
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in life cuz for me I wanted to be in the in a suit and kind of work in the CBD and stuff like
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that I'd never experienced it right like I'm from a family of Tradesmen so kind
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of no one in our family ever went to work in a suit and I thought I just want to change it and for me that was a sense
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of a physical kind of appreciation that that you're doing something different I
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can think of even worse than going to work in a suit any day this is this is me dressed up so um so yeah that changed
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pretty quickly but the the the constant challenge that I've been provided with
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from from alh and and some of the other businesses gets me out of bed every day and I love doing what I do so so in
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those early days um I've heard stories about you just like eating noodles yeah
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yeah yeah yeah Maggie chicken soup C soup cup noodles is that um is that faction or is that adding adding man and
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and I still have a couple of Maggie soup cup noodles in my cupboard at home cuz I
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just a great little fix but that's all I could afford like at that time right it
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was like and then I just get big like 24 backs of Coca-Cola and uh and that was kind of my thing so but the noodles for
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like breakfast lunch dinner and dinner yeah yeah and you know you'd go up for
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the oldd client thing where you'd kind of get some food or whatever and I'd
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possibly duck into Benji's family home and grab some of their dinner but I pretty independent dude but again for me
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it wasn't like my lifestyle was ever scaling back it's not like we ever had
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great cupboards full of food at home or or an amazing fridge full of food it was
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kind of like just what how can I get by you know yeah what's 91 pit like compared to 98 yeah and so when did Rob
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F Rob F by the way um prominent New Zealand businessman um he was the the CEO of e New Zealand for a while he was
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was he the boss of like A&Z or bnz one of the banks one of the banks yeah and
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then um during the pandemic he was um called into by juster to be part of the brains trust yeah um down in Wellington
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so he's very very successful very knowledgeable um now married to um Sarah Tetro Sarah 5 as you said um when did
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when did you first meet him how did he come into the PED I'm guessing that was
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a turning point of business met him met him through a mutual friend probably five years ago um oh no actually I would
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have met him probably six or seven years ago and we just got along really well and we kind of just grew a bit of a
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relationship in a bond s is really easy to get along with person um and one thing led to another and end up
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picking his brains about um about work and stuff and then we went on the Milford track walk actually
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together and that was probably for me the most inspiring week of my life that that that for me was a week that I the
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week I didn't know I needed well not that I didn't know I needed but the week
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that I I if I could go back and think about it and pinpoint where the ambition really got ignited um it was it was a
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week with Rob's and sar's um close friends um and that was just like whoa
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like he was sharing some of the War Stories and stuff of of some of his career and I was like I want to be able
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to have those those stories and go on a walk with a kid at 23 and and and give him some fuel and the thing so that what
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sort of War Stories like buying boeings yeah bit of that there was a bit of the airb the B but it was um there there was
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there's all sorts of stuff that was just fascinating for me the there some of the
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numbers and the transactions that he was doing on behalf of you know new Zeal whatever those are just numbers I'd
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never heard before my my uncle late when I was growing up I'll never forget he
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was on $144,000 and he was the the the the biggest ear I'd ever met right in giz
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and I looked at him like he was Jeff Bezos and kind but that's what I didn't
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know right and he was really inspiring and motivating for me at that point but the great thing about life and
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relationships you kind of commit people throughout that continuously keep fueling your fire if you're looking not
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that you go out looking for it but it doesn't take long to kind of naturally
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align with some of those people you're like oh well hold on here you go those
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are the things yeah it's was like the analogy um that that I was telling you
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before I feel like it's um it's like climbing a tree like you reach Pho next
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branch and then you reach and I suppose there's some people that'll the branch
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be 144,000 a year and when they get there they're like no I'm I'm good this
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is my Branch this is my ceiling yeah um but if you've got that growth mindset
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you're going to keep looking for that next Branch or that next taller tree whatever it happens to be so so Rob so
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yeah it's interesting so so your father passed away you started this business uh
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you're like three four years into the business before you met Rob F so he's
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like a business partner now business Mentor Father Figure as well yeah look I dad nine years today right since since
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dad passed away um and and I think I'm incredibly blessed to have someone like
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like a Rob that I can spend enough time in and around their their family home where I can kind of unintentionally get
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that kind of you know I guess he's a phenomenal bloke right personally and professionally so it's it's it is a real
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blessing that you know he's incredibly respectful really kind caring guy and
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and and I've never been around a a BL like like that so it's been cool to
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learn in in a few areas of life often have you have you had had a falling out like where youve had a tough talk and
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you then you don't talk for a couple of days couple of weeks what people don't
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realize is is I've never had a falling out with Rob i' Rob Rob could call me
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anything and I'd walk away right and it if you know well that's not like me I'm
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kind of always pretty willing to for a fight but I've got so much respect for
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him um I've definitely had a few frakin you know wax from him I've probably had dozens and dozens of of wax
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but every day's a new day with Rob and and and that that's the one thing that
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that we've we've not ever had that conversation but that's just what we
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know you know can say one thing and then it is what it is the next day yeah so you say WX so verbal verbal
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ver probably been times he wanted to physically wet me there's probably been
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him and Sara uh so there's probably been dozens of times he's probably thought
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jezy could probably do with one here but uh but any of these um wax spring to mind any any of that stand out as being
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significant oh yeah I I I probably one to do with um one to do with work I'd
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we'd kind of as alh was growing I financially am pretty comfortable in that area in business have have learned
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to become more com fortable I'd made a mistake on not uring for certain invoices so basically I'd
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told him that we'd outperform this three Monon period than what we actually had
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we ended up basically making break even over this three-month period when I thought oh we've made all this money but
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I hadn't accounted for these invoices and to my defense I thought that uh I thought that um I could blame the other
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guy the guy that we had in the position at the moment I worked in there and I never forget yet just doing hot laps up
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and down Rob and Sara's driveway cuz I said to Rob mate I need to come and talk
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to you I I need to own something here and I'm gasing myself up I'm like man
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you'll be fine get in there you know he's going to be really accommodating
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he's going to see where he coming from kind of within a minute I sit down I'm
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shaking and Rob's kind of got this like cold look that he can turn on really
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well and that's when you know it's not going to be the conversation you were
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anticipating it was going to be and SC the [ __ ] out of me and uh and I there like you know Rob like this is kind of
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this happened and he should have been doing this and Rob just straight don't
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don't try and blame him on this is a you problem this is your business you're not
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close enough to it you've got two Detachment I just sitting there kind of it's kind of it's never the thing is
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with the works I've had it's never it's never like an attack on me personally
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but it's so direct and you're like was like and it's just just so to the point
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like you know and instead of using eight sentences he'll use two so it's kind of
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constantly doing those things um and you know um perception's been a big learning
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stuff for me right the first few years you kind of especially from 21 to 24 there's definitely times I probably
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thought I was a bit cooler than than what I was and now pretty quickly like stain your lane what do what do you mean
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you're not oh just just little things like if I was ever you know if if I was
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wearing a shirt that was probably a little bit too nice for me to wear in or something like that like what are you
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wearing that for like you shouldn't be wearing that do you know what I mean that's kind of always always actually
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looking out for me and making sure I'm not looking like a Dicky because perception is a big thing and and I and
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and I really focus on it and uh and there's just many touch points where it was kind of like there's been that many
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that I can't you know again as funny I was Toby's 21st the other weekend
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someone said to me do you actually does anyone actually ever tell you what off you know don't kind of report into
00:19:01
family or whatever and then I went back and I said that to S Rob I said just got
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asked if you guys have ever told me off before and they both hysterically started laughing they're like ah geez if
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they heard half of them that'd be in F laughter so yeah so so yeah Rob f is the
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is the chairman of alh now and and fit out the um the other business yeah um I'm I'm guessing a lot of like I mean I
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don't know I'm purely speculating here cuz I know nothing about anything but I
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me I'm guessing a chairman job a chairman role or chairman position is like cracking the Whip and getting the
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CEO like thirster and hungrier but with Rob is it more like holding the range like trying to hold you back yeah that's
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what like an angry dog on a lead that's probably his Des description he's kind
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of like w he's like he's just trying to kind of hang on to the tail right and
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I'm just trying to go full full pace and you know there's def definitely
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decisions that if he didn't influence me not to make the business would be in a
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trickier spot for sure so it's guess the chairman is is the mentor and and and
00:20:01
and helps direct the CEO and support him yeah so so we're recording this towards
00:20:06
the tail end of 2023 how what's your revenue for this year for alh in this calendar year we we'll we'll probably
00:20:13
come in in around the mid 4S so we're going to go for 50 we probably might get
00:20:19
early early 40s but you know it's been it's been a challenging year the economy's turned pretty quick um it's
00:20:27
the the market in that we found the trickiest the opening of the regions that we have that that's been that's
00:20:33
been phenomenal for us and that that's actually been a really key foundation
00:20:37
for this business to keep pushing so it doesn't take much things to turn to kind
00:20:41
of start to have to reevaluate where where you sitting and redirect but all in all we you know and amongst the
00:20:47
economy and the things that have happened we're freaking excited for next year and yeah I've heard you in some
00:20:53
other podcasts talk about your goal is to get to like 100 100 million Revenue so you're at 40 million for this year
00:20:59
goal is to get to 100 what what does that mean exactly for someone that knows [ __ ] about business look 100 mil's not
00:21:05
the goal anymore we want to go bigger um I think we can uh we're opening up in
00:21:09
Brisbane in in February um which is going to be awesome and that's a whole another Market that we we're looking
00:21:14
forward to getting into Australia labor hire perfect big fluk big fluk where else can we go Africa labor Al Asia
00:21:22
anywhere anywhere a anywhere labor high it's perfect um so like what does it
00:21:28
mean to some look it it's it's it's strictly a sales metric it's not
00:21:33
actually a performance metric it's it's like a market she metric so you can know
00:21:37
how much of it you're capturing the performance of the business ultimately is the bottom line and how much profit
00:21:41
you're generating but Top Line gives me a sense of how much Market we are capturing in and amongst this this
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market so that's kind of always been my focus where then we can start to drive
00:21:53
performance when we once we get that critical mass so it's it's just kind of
00:21:56
adopting and and and trying to steal as much of the market as we can and so how does your um position so your CEO
00:22:04
managing director managing direct so you get paid a salary yep get paid a salary
00:22:09
but and is it a good salary or look it's I'm not complaining about it it's it's a
00:22:14
good celery it's definitely an under Market celery like um but um and it's
00:22:20
probably the first time I've had the celery and but you know I I work my ass
00:22:24
off and I've worked my ass off for seven seven and a half years is it more than
00:22:28
made on 144 it'd be pretty close but uh but but you know like it's it's one of those things you you like if
00:22:38
if you actually kind of you know I didn't pay myself for the first four years and I'm actually constantly always
00:22:43
thinking where I'm not in it for this year or next year or the year after and
00:22:48
if I get another 40 Grand or 50 Grand this year it's not going to change my life next year so I'm constantly
00:22:55
thinking well I'm always willing to sacrif I some of my remuneration for for
00:23:01
generating bringing in bigger roles creating new roles so we can continue to grow this business because the the
00:23:06
dollar figure is not what gets me out of bid every day it's a challenge yeah well
00:23:09
I I suppose ultimately it's your company as well so you're not sitting there
00:23:12
going yeah man my boss is a [ __ ] prick it's my company but I've like I
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probably made a decision a couple of years ago to make it feel like it wasn't
00:23:21
I was kind of like all right I'm I'm effectively a CEO but managing director
00:23:25
I just want to make it and and having a CH does make you feel like it's not your
00:23:29
own company at times which I like that that's great for me it's that's what
00:23:34
some someone like me really thrives off it adds accountability adds Direction and and I've got results that we're kind
00:23:41
of constantly being reassessed on so it's um so whilst it is my company I do
00:23:46
my I I try really hard to make it feel like it's not and I'm kind of just in my
00:23:51
role to deliver the results that that I'm putting forward yeah CU I don't
00:23:56
understand that stuff but I've been listening to all the um Elon Musk book um on Audi Bill and he's been pushed out
00:24:02
of some companies that he that that he set up and that he owned could that happen to you look if if if if I did
00:24:08
something drastically out of control Rob Rob could ultimately remove me and and and from the business but it's a crazy
00:24:15
concept it's a crazy concept but it was a concept I signed up for and and and
00:24:19
it's it's really helped me like I'm I'm a pretty Rogue like kind of not uh I'm
00:24:26
I'm pretty one-dimensional but also pretty sporadic and and with my thoughts
00:24:30
and and things like that so it's great to have some form of kind of direction
00:24:34
oh yeah I mean a lot of people could find you very intimidating I suppose so yeah as we alluded to at the start um we
00:24:39
spent the morning at um alh HQ and what's pinrose OD who OD who um and you've got like a basketball court there
00:24:48
there's there's a um a fully stacked gym there's a sauna you cranked up the music
00:24:53
the what was it called again the Panic Room Panic Room over and over again and then um you know you were doing a set of
00:24:59
exercise then I'm doing a set of exercise and you're yelling out like a drill sergeant I love exercise so good
00:25:05
it is and then things like um it's Thursday brother it's like oh my God every day is a good day man and exercise
00:25:12
is like a drug like it's me exercising in the morning is like me being at the
00:25:17
gas tank fueling up it's like I've got a couple of weird quirks right I bit weird
00:25:23
some I've um I've had people tell I've never been diagnosed with anything but
00:25:27
um I I do think there's traces of ADHD and I think maybe I'm on the Spectrum
00:25:31
somewhere like a little bit aspery or something but I heard all that yeah yeah yeah yeah definitely definitely but it's
00:25:39
intoxicating it was it was a fun morning and I really enjoyed it it was but but a
00:25:43
lot of people must find it very quite intimidating do you have some stuff that come along and they just don't last
00:25:47
because they don't fit the mold yeah massively it's a high performance culture you you get in you get stuck and
00:25:52
or effectively you get out right so and it's not for everyone and we do our best
00:25:56
to try and be honest honest about it but it's not for everyone so but you know
00:26:00
like my my exercise and my routine if I don't get like I do my best to be as
00:26:06
aware of my quirks and chinks of the chain as as possible so you know if I don't get up and do a morning workout
00:26:14
I'm a nightmare for the rest of I can't sit still I can't focus I I like I've
00:26:19
had to build a really clear consistent infrastructure around my day in order for me to perform um and it's it's a
00:26:26
creature of habit kind of a a day but it's if I didn't do that I couldn't sit
00:26:32
down and focus where I need to yeah being that in tune with yourself I think it's a real powerful spot to be in and
00:26:37
you you found that spot really really even with some of the OCD stuff right like kind of like hygiene and time those
00:26:42
are some things I'm pretty weird with I I just make sorry for pissing in your
00:26:46
ass I saw that saw the red the yellow trap it's so cold there's no chance of
00:26:51
doing we in an ice you certainly couldn't um but you know but that's it it's just kind of like making sure I've
00:26:58
got the infrastructure around me that I need to perform and and and that's it I
00:27:03
think cuz you know all um my PA was around yesterday after dinner and we're figuring out my first three months of so
00:27:11
January to to April geez it's it's hectic right I'm kind of away more than
00:27:16
I am home and it's just kind of say all right well little things can we make
00:27:19
sure we've got consistent stuff in around the fridges and and the branches that I'm going to be at um making sure
00:27:25
I've got exercise booked in making sure I'm kind of the the hotels that I'm
00:27:29
staying at have a sauna have a gym where I can get a little workout or something
00:27:33
like that and so it's that kind of orchestrated to to make sure I feel like I can kind of just get in there and
00:27:39
deliver yeah it's it's a fascinating chapter we could stand on this forever
00:27:42
but um time is limited unfortunately um just before we move on from this chapter
00:27:46
three and go back to chapter one the early years um if someone came and um offered to buy the company today what
00:27:53
would the price be not for sale everything's for sale no like like I like I I've got no interest these next
00:28:02
5 years for me like at a minimum right we've kind of got a 5 to 10 year cycle
00:28:07
and and I like I I couldn't go and get this challenge somewhere else tomorrow
00:28:12
if we sold it okay I suppose what I'm asking I'll I'll be honest with you I'll
00:28:16
look at you direct and ask you honestly the Rob fway um you're 29 years old it's
00:28:21
a company you set up eight years ago yeah uh what would you be worth what's your need wor oh geez I'd be happy if I
00:28:26
was a million bucks I don't know I I don't get caught up in this Stu that's a
00:28:29
lot yeah come on that's I don't I don't know I don't I don't get caught up on
00:28:34
focusing on that yeah it's way way more than that though I don't know look I I
00:28:38
don't get caught up on that stff because I I heard a podcast you did and you said
00:28:41
growing up you're obsessed with two things um what people were earning or what they're worth and their height yeah
00:28:47
yeah yeah yeah I um not interested in your height but what are you worth look I don't know honestly I couldn't tell
00:28:53
you I I don't know I honestly I I couldn't tell you and uh and that's not
00:28:57
a metric that I'm constantly assessing myself on you must have an idea though I
00:29:02
I don't honestly I I couldn't tell you it's um hick I generally off the top of
00:29:07
my head I don't know but uh but you know I've I was always interested like you
00:29:12
know when got a coffee this morning money is a metric but the most exciting thing for me is the actually the
00:29:20
challenge to get to that metric and that's so when I talk about the 100 Mil when I talk about the 250 mil or when we
00:29:27
get to a 250 mil I'm talking about 500 mil it's not the money metric that
00:29:33
excites me the most I certainly I think there's such a challenge to get to there
00:29:37
and the challenge I've had to get to here excites me to keep going and um and
00:29:42
as long as I can I'll be determined and motivated to keep pushing that boat out
00:29:45
because I love the challenge so that metric is almost like the last 10% just a tick box to say cool we've done that
00:29:52
but I'm signing up for the challenge underneath and that's what excites me
00:29:56
the most yeah that's that's a nice answer but for for the workout this morning I was walking behind you outside
00:30:01
your apartment um that was definitely a real Louis Vuitton backpack oh I think I
00:30:06
got that one from Hong Kong for eight bucks it's not a Balon special I can tell all right um yeah thanks I
00:30:15
appreciate the way you answered that it was a very skillful answer thanks it's
00:30:18
an UNC uncomfortable question isn't it oh look it's it's a question that's not
00:30:22
overly uncommon but it's it's it's genuinely not something I get too too
00:30:25
fixated on yeah okay okay let's go back to the early years so um izy from Gizzy
00:30:31
busy izy from Gizzy yeah so um gizon very very Christian house like heavily religious household and you're the baby
00:30:39
of the family um unplanned massive age Gap right yep yeah big age Gap bu's 12
00:30:44
years older than me banjo's 10 years older than me Rosy's five years older
00:30:48
than me okay okay so then then you came along then I came along yeah and um yeah I've
00:30:55
heard in um other podcasts you've done you talk about your relationship with
00:30:58
your dad you mention your relationship with your mom um look me I love my mom right um I'm a busy guy I think that bu
00:31:05
is BU busy is he I'm a busy guy um I keep in touch with my family to the best
00:31:10
I can I could always do a better job but it's a really respectful relationship in
00:31:14
and amongst my family they know that I'm doing what I'm doing um and and whatnot
00:31:19
but um but at the end of the day it's it's just one of those things I I had to
00:31:24
grow up really young right and that's kind of thing so I became really independent I wasn't necessarily someone
00:31:29
that was dependent on an emotional attachment on on anything realistically with too many people so it's just about
00:31:36
kind of pushing forward and getting on I I go and see my mom when I'm home I'm
00:31:39
just hardly home I probably go home twice a year so um but she's a lovely lady bringing me up wouldn't have been
00:31:46
easy uh so uh do do you think by the time you came along she was just bored of parenting I I I I genuinely think
00:31:54
that my mom I probably came out into the world and my mom thought ah this is kind
00:31:59
of my Swan Song and she says to me you you were put your three older siblings together she said you were worse she
00:32:06
said you didn't walk anywhere it was all sprinting it was like always flat out so
00:32:11
there's probably no Mom all parents wish that for their last yeah and also um do
00:32:18
you think like did your older siblings sort of raise you in a way I suppose takes takes the slack off the parents a
00:32:23
bit when and and that age Gap not that I've experienced it with my I don't have
00:32:27
children but like I think that is a common theme in in families when you've got siblings that are 8 to 10 to 12
00:32:32
years older than you they do take on some of that responsibility so my two older siblings I've I've got quite a lot
00:32:38
to do and it's a different relationship than I have with Rosie um Ros is the one
00:32:42
that's closest to me so it's me Rosies is far more of a friendship um and bgie
00:32:47
and banjo is far more of kind of like a let's just make sure this guys he's in
00:32:52
line and we check him when we need to and stuff like that so in your relationship with your dad um um we'll
00:32:57
get into this in um further detail in the the next chapter chapter to the adversity chapter but um uh very strict
00:33:05
y like militant militant was it was he he was sced kaker right kaker did he did he have a military background no it was
00:33:13
man it was interesting like like you don't know what you don't know until you
00:33:18
leave home and and the way I was brought up I thought it was normal you know and
00:33:22
and and you kind of some of the stories was telling it you know when we're going
00:33:27
for a walk on the coffee it's like you think some of those things it was it was
00:33:31
a constant the way I would describe my upbringing in my relationship with there it was constantly being
00:33:39
uncomfortable in a home environment because I should always be doing more so it was I never felt at ease or relaxed
00:33:46
at home I was never allowed to sleep in past 7: a.m. because that was teaching bad habits that was his words um he
00:33:54
would walk in um up the porch walk in into the house I could hear him coming cuz he' have the keys on his hip I was
00:34:00
never allowed to be sat down when he walked in I always had to be doing something so I'd Dart off to the kitchen
00:34:05
act like I was doing the dishes um and doing something so at least when I when like that would validate to him that I
00:34:11
wasn't lazy I was always about doing more doing more doing more and and that's ingrained to me today and
00:34:17
sometimes it's hard to see the woods from the trees or trees from the woods I'm kind of like more more more more
00:34:23
more and sometimes to this day I just get so consumed at hard to pull yourself out of that and see it different but
00:34:29
it's just making sure you've kind of got some levers and flags to identify that
00:34:33
yeah there's one um particular story you told me about do you want to share that
00:34:37
or yeah I um I like there was probably about six months my dad would wake me up come down the hallway he'd like put his
00:34:45
hand over my mouth and then block my nose and I'd kind of basically being ins
00:34:50
suffocated right I'd wake up and I'd panic and you'd kind of be like what are
00:34:53
you doing you can't be panicking you need to learn to relax you're kind of
00:34:56
like as we got to the point where over the months and stuff I'd wake up before he'd
00:35:01
there and I'd act like I was like unfaced by and look at him and be like oh all
00:35:07
right you know beating him you away for like hours ready ready to win ready to win um it was interesting actually Rob
00:35:14
Rob Rob texted me this morning past on my thoughts about the the nine-year thing and he mentioned it he said I'm
00:35:20
sure you're suffocating dead would be proud looking down at you yeah that's
00:35:24
that's um like that's that's troubling it's it's it's it's troubling to look it
00:35:31
it was what it was it's not something I have trauma about at today but you know
00:35:35
I I look back in it and and I say it honestly if I had to change anything I wouldn't because if it meant I could be
00:35:41
where I am today to have the work ethic I have the drive and the ambition [ __ ]
00:35:46
I'd do it 10 times over if it meant it you know so I wouldn't honestly I
00:35:49
wouldn't change the thing but he wasn't like that with any of the older kids
00:35:53
right no so why are you man I'm a splitting image of him like uh I'm I'm a
00:35:58
lot like him I've got a lot of characteristics like him I'm a lot like him in some areas but then I'm
00:36:03
completely opposite and in others but I think he was just at the end of his time
00:36:09
yeah like should he had four I was the fourth one right again I I wouldn't want
00:36:13
me to be the fourth kid if I had kids jeez I'm like a Livewire right it's kind
00:36:18
of from the minute I'm up I'm on and then uh and yeah just i' I'd learned how
00:36:23
to wind him up like he'd wind me up and I was I was I was a chick bastard I was
00:36:27
I wasn't like you know I was always pushing the boundaries just like he was trying to push mine so do you think it
00:36:33
was an element of like tough love on his part just put you in your place it was always he would always say to me he'd
00:36:38
call me boy or buddy those are the two names he'd call me I like why why are
00:36:41
you doing this why you so hard on me why weren't you like this with the others
00:36:45
and stuff you but look boy I don't know what we're working towards but but we're
00:36:49
working towards something and you'll thank me one day one day you'll thank me
00:36:52
for this work e never got to thank him that's probably the one regret I've got
00:36:56
in my life and uh and I look back at it and I think gez you know I am thankful for that work ethic and that stuff but
00:37:02
to be being told that from the time you're 13 we just don't know what we're
00:37:06
working for but we're working towards something it's like what he like World
00:37:10
War coming around yeah and he was a school caraker so he would have had no aspirations like you starting up a big
00:37:16
multi-million dollar company or anything yeah no no he has always kind of had his
00:37:20
brain ticking to see what was next and and where he could go but ultimately he just didn't have and you know he he got
00:37:27
married young had kids young so his he's in a different position right like I'm
00:37:32
29 I've kind of got none of those responsibilities so I can solely focus on on business and and and what I want
00:37:38
to achieve in my life where he from the time he was 20 kids yeah did did you um did you love him or were you scared of
00:37:47
him or both loved him scared shitless of him um respected him but didn't wouldn't go have a coffee
00:37:57
with him if he was around today you know and and that that's me being brutal with
00:38:00
all respect to my siblings um I just had a really different relationship one that
00:38:05
I don't long for or miss you know I'm at peace with with everything and it's I
00:38:10
think you go through phases in in life and you actually just have to own and take accountability what's happen's
00:38:16
happened and and you can move forward and and every day is a new day and you just got to take it like that so so
00:38:21
that's my philosophy how how do you not have you had any therapy or anything oh
00:38:26
I wish to psychologist probably like four or five times like within two years of his passing um but I've kind of not
00:38:35
very good at self-regulating and I probably still got a bit bit of work to do on it but uh what but being being
00:38:41
able to kind of just pull myself out of situations has always been a struggle but that's more so with work than than I
00:38:47
would with the dad stuff and and I think you know it's it's not a it's an
00:38:52
unpopular opinion but when dad passed away there was that much tension and stress put on my life from him and and a
00:38:58
controlling element that was like a burden of relief you know like it was kind of like [ __ ] I can be my own person
00:39:05
now so whilst there was a lot of negativity and upset and in a tough time I still sit there I think I wouldn't be
00:39:13
doing what I was doing today if you're still alive and selfishly that works for
00:39:18
me so that gave me peace why wouldn't you be doing what you're doing today I I
00:39:22
feel like you would I feel like you you I've heard you in other podcast and you
00:39:25
talk about the influence that Rob 5 had on your life and uh and your dad but I feel like you you matched the beit of
00:39:31
Your Own Drum and it may have been a different route to the one you've taken
00:39:35
rout be in the same place here or not whether Rob was in your life or not yeah look i' I'm confident in my ability that
00:39:42
I'd end up where I want to end up but at a different timeline probably um but I
00:39:47
just like it's hard to explain you know like my sister got married I think I
00:39:51
would have been 19 I couldn't be seen with with an alcohol drink in my hand hand you know I
00:39:57
never forget when my dad saw me across the wedding and I had a hinein in my hand I shut myself and quickly chucked
00:40:02
it out do you know what I mean there's this such an element of like like I'd be
00:40:08
fearful of what his response would be sometimes yeah so we'll get to the adversity chapter soon and this is where
00:40:15
it starts to unravel a bit more about your dad but um with the benefit of hindsight now from where you're sitting
00:40:20
as a 29y old man that's done very [ __ ] well for yourself um how much do you think of his like like anger or
00:40:27
discipline towards you was like mental health based um you know what I mean yeah like
00:40:33
Dad was an interesting operator like he was almost a screw loose where it was I don't know how I'd describe it if
00:40:44
I went to war I'd want Dad next to me right cuz I think he'd be the guy that
00:40:48
would clear a hall for you do you know what I mean so he was always unhinged and it was almost like that was just
00:40:54
part of him like he was just so so like that um but the mental health stuff there was definitely a a deterioration
00:41:03
of it um and and for me if I look back at it it started from the time I was probably 12 or 13 but I don't know you
00:41:10
ask my family they might say it was 5 years earlier so um yeah there's a lot
00:41:15
of the mental health stuff but it was I've met a lot of people that encount him into Heth but he was a unique breed
00:41:23
that guy like he was a different different kid of fish that fell you you've always been um so driven though
00:41:29
way uh like you you made the call to leave gbon and finish your school in Oakland so it wasn't your parents
00:41:34
sending you away no um that was that was your decision which just seems just seems like you had this um sort of
00:41:41
instinct all the way through your life was part of that like to get to get away from your dad so you could wake wake up
00:41:46
without being suffocated I had to get away from my dad like well me and Dad probably would have Bloody one of us
00:41:51
would have end up bloody doing something silly you know like that's how much
00:41:56
tension there was in the relationship it was it was getting to the point where I'm off or one of us are going to end up
00:42:02
in hospital and it would have been me cuz look snakes got bigger arms than me right yeah you think would get to that
00:42:08
age where yeah I was from a like a a spanking household um but it was it was always Correctional and it was always
00:42:14
Dad would always say oh this is going to hurt me more than what's going to hurt
00:42:16
you but it gets to the point where you're 14 15 where it's like your dad
00:42:20
can't put you over the bed and give you a whack belt anymore you you think had
00:42:24
start to treat you differently but that wasn't the no probably started to level
00:42:27
up more so and um and yeah it was it was one one of us had to do something and and and for me it was it was moving away
00:42:36
and uh and like you know the drive and the competitiveness I think if if I had to describe myself to best help you or
00:42:45
people understand I hate I hate losing more than a love winning that would be my description so winning comes first
00:42:53
for me right and then I can have fun after but losing for me is almost traumatic right I frecking hate it so
00:43:02
there's such a drive to deliver a result and in everything I do like I I whenever
00:43:08
me and my sister would go around the corner to the DA I'd always race her there race to the gate who's going to
00:43:13
win this or that it was always always to that next point so there's a big underlying drive and ambition and that
00:43:21
was breed through my dad like he would he would say to me oh look you know your sister's doing better than you here and
00:43:27
I'm like well she's 10 years older than like of course she's a woman but it was
00:43:32
constantly it was constantly like that and I'll never forget when I like first
00:43:36
beat my brother at a running race I was like 14 and first time I I bat him CU he'd come and helped me do my fitness
00:43:42
banjo's always been incredibly supportive when it was football when it was business um but I never forget the
00:43:48
first time I be him and I was like that's great and then I remember Dad saying well you should have been him by
00:43:53
more you know so it's kind of like even when you got to that point there was
00:43:56
something else and and that competitiveness still lives and breathes inside of me every day is is that
00:44:02
something you need to work on like I I've heard you say you avoid playing board games where it's a chance like
00:44:07
yachy or something because it's like come on yeah well yeah come on absolutely but like I I think for me I'm
00:44:16
hopelessly me and and and I I love you know as Rob said to me you know he always said to me man as long as you can
00:44:24
get up every day and look at the fell in the mirror and love them mhm worry less
00:44:28
you know and have a great day so look yeah there's going to come a time when that Competitive Edge slows
00:44:36
down naturally as humans do but I don't want to I don't want to cube that I I
00:44:41
want I want a future family or something to be that reason and I just want to go
00:44:46
all gas no braks until that time comes so whilst I've kind of got the testosterone and I've got the energy I
00:44:52
just don't want to stop the momentum you're always going to the testosterone
00:44:57
and the energy I think I'm always going to have that but there's going to come a
00:44:59
time where I'm I believe I could be wrong probably everyone who knows me well probably thinks I'm right there's
00:45:06
going to come a time where it's kind of going to I believe there'll come a time
00:45:10
actually I don't need to fight that fight I normally would have but I'm just
00:45:14
going to summer down and and and kind of do D I've got a good friend guy called
00:45:18
Kurt um he's 10 years older than me um I I love the relationship I have with him
00:45:25
he's done incredibly well he's a successful guy and he's a really great
00:45:28
guy and I kind of almost compare where I am now it's like on the young bull not
00:45:34
that he's the old bull but I kind of think my energy towards a lot of things
00:45:38
I know that he would have been at this age but he's not so much now he's got
00:45:41
three kids him and his wife and and whatnot so I look at that and I think there's going to be a time for that but
00:45:47
that time's not right now so I want to want to go with the momentum yeah oh that's cool so yes so you move to Orland
00:45:55
finish your school education here yep off your own back yep where are you staying you bulleted out who are I got
00:46:01
bulleted out with a with a family then they bloody kicked me out after a couple of months then I live went and live with
00:46:06
the um the corter family phenomenal family um literally welcomed me in and and treated me like their own I I shared
00:46:13
a room with my friend called chunky um who we're still Incredibly Close with
00:46:17
today he comes and does our Wednesday workouts at HQ with the team which is cool so um I lived with them and then
00:46:23
then I went and did my building apprenticeship started my building ship apprenti after school and hooked into
00:46:28
that so yeah while you're play playing soccer so soccer or SL football was uh
00:46:33
your main purp took a year off football actually just so I could when I started the apprenticeship was just too tough on
00:46:38
the body and uh you're doing long hours you're lifting lots of stuff and and I
00:46:43
you I never really liked football I just liked winning and uh and and I was kind
00:46:47
of you know so it was uh you why didn't you play a solo sport where all the variables I have a choice like I was I
00:46:56
was like I was kind of brought up to play football right that was a kind of thing but a team sport must have annoyed
00:47:03
you and mean I was the worst teammate I was the worst teammate I wouldn't want to be my
00:47:09
teammate you know and this me being honest um I was it was all like it just it actually like got got to the point
00:47:16
where I'd burn relationships cuz it was just like that competitive it's kind of
00:47:21
like you know okay so so you're 20 years 20 years old um you're building a
00:47:27
Apprentice um you're playing a bit of football and then you get a phone call
00:47:31
from your sister about your dad yeah um so this would have been N9 years ago today n years ago today yeah yeah it's
00:47:38
it's incredible to look back and and think that it's been N9 years yeah what
00:47:41
are is it hard to go back there to that day or no look it's it's it's not like I
00:47:47
I've gone over that day so many times I like I think today today's more about my
00:47:52
family than it is for me they they the family they still still have to live in giz well don't have to but they live in
00:47:57
gbon that's where the memories are with that that's where the memories are for
00:48:01
them they've got great memories with that I don't have many memories up in
00:48:05
Oakland so my my next chapter was my own chapter so I've been able to create my
00:48:12
own life and and merge into a family of my own up here which which I I love care
00:48:18
and respect and and it's vice versa so today's for me is more about my family I
00:48:23
know that I'm okay these days are going to happen um and each year it gets easier um but I think today I kind of
00:48:29
wake up and I I kind of feel for them yeah so so we started with um chapter 3 which is um uh Izzy Whitley the
00:48:36
entrepreneur um then we went back to chapter one which is like the childhood which sort of set the foundations of the
00:48:42
man you are today which takes us now to um the second chapter and the Final Chapter uh I suppose the the adversity
00:48:49
chapter which um I mean all all these things you look back and they they all sort of have made you the the person and
00:48:56
the man you are today so um yeah take us back to that that nine years ago today so you get the phone call from what are
00:49:02
you doing what are you doing that day you're on the on site I no no I it was a
00:49:05
Sunday I just done crate day with my uh football team and uh I'd just gone and
00:49:11
had a pizza with my girlfriend at the time and uh and that's where I got the
00:49:15
phone calls on Milford Beach I'll never forget so like evening afternoon evening
00:49:19
yeah kind of 5 or 6:00 so for me whilst today's the anniversary crate day for me
00:49:24
is probably theough a day um because that Memories the memories like as awful as it sounds I wake up and I think I was
00:49:32
hooking into my first beer this time N9 years ago and my dad was already dead right and I just didn't find out until
00:49:38
that evening so that for me is it almost it's like oh I'm getting up and going
00:49:43
about my day when I didn't even know for for so long right so I was in Milford
00:49:47
Beach got the phone call went to the cor's house um so you you didn't have a
00:49:53
hunch or anything some people say they felt something and their gut was wrong I didn't believe it you were just hammered
00:49:57
I steamed I could hardly like I was absolutely rotten drunk so so your sister calls him what does she say it's
00:50:04
interesting up until probably a month ago we didn't like we' spoke about and
00:50:07
she said the phone call she had with me seems completely different to what I relay cuz I just remember her telling me
00:50:13
hey is uh dad's been found dead and I was like oh and she tells me there's
00:50:17
eight sentences before but that's that's what I remember um so well you did oh
00:50:23
great her yeah good point she's a more reliable witness yeah so so that happened and then I I went to the
00:50:30
conters to be around kind of my them and and they were incredibly supportive and
00:50:34
helpful and and poorly drove me to um to the Mount uh to then be picked up from banjo um and then drove home and then it
00:50:43
was with the family and uh that must must have been a weird day because it's
00:50:46
um obviously you're half cut for starters but I suppose you're sober up very quickly when you get a phone call
00:50:51
like that yeah um you try to but also you you you have the complex the complexities of your personal
00:50:57
relationship with your father yeah um I had no idea it was suicide until I got home I so what were you thinking I I
00:51:03
thought he'd got cheeky to the wrong person and just got dusted up I honestly
00:51:08
thought someone had killed him that that's what I thought I was like he's
00:51:12
got cheeky to the wrong guy or he's thrown his temper at the wrong person and they weren't having it
00:51:18
today banjo um told me that it was a head injury as to what the cause of the death was so that's why I was kind like
00:51:26
someone's you know donked him or something like that so then um it wasn't
00:51:30
until I got home and I was like you know banjo was quite Blas about telling me or
00:51:35
talking about it and he just keep saying I just don't want to know I just don't
00:51:38
want to know I'm like I want to know like you know what the what the hell's
00:51:42
going on I pulled my um sister aside I said bie you've got to tell me what's
00:51:46
going on and she pulled me into a room and uh she said there's we found a note and um
00:51:54
and I was kind of like wow it was just you know from that point I was like I was actually really disappointed like in
00:52:01
him because I was kind of this guy has in my opinion trained my mind trained my psyche to be as strong strict
00:52:09
disciplined as I can be and to weather any storm and the storm being dad I weathered his storm for a long time but
00:52:17
he couldn't weather his and that's how I thought at the time I didn't dive into
00:52:21
understand mental health but I was kind of like what a dick like you you're not
00:52:25
practicing what you've preached into me my whole life you've called it quits
00:52:29
when it got tough obviously that's now not what I think but at the time that's
00:52:33
what I was kind of oh so yeah you're very young at the time too so understanding and and so now that I'm
00:52:38
aware of a lot more and and I've educated myself on on what mental health can can do I definitely don't feel like
00:52:44
that but at the time that's how I felt I was like I just pissed off I remember I
00:52:49
remember all the family around and I we kind of said oh what are we going to do when's the funeral going to be is it
00:52:53
going to be I said was a Sunday I said let's have it on the Wednesday I've got surgery for my
00:52:58
shoulder on the Thursday I want to get back to Oakland I want to keep living my life and keep moving forward that's
00:53:03
generally the chat I remember having in front of everyone so you um so did you allow yourself to grieve or I I didn't
00:53:10
allow myself to grieve but then when everything happened with my heart I was in the hospital for a week and I just
00:53:14
bowled my eyes out for a week yeah this is the next bit of the adversity chapter
00:53:18
yeah yeah we will get to that that's it's a lot it was a lot over a very
00:53:22
concentrated period of time yeah okay so um what did the notes say was it much oh
00:53:28
look out of respect to the family I won't relay it but um but it said enough
00:53:33
to to kind of reiterate what position he was in and and how he was feeling and and it was actually more of an apology
00:53:39
than anything yeah and um you yeah we can't get into this um due to various laws but you told me uh earlier um how
00:53:47
he went about it and it's a a particularly violent and brutal way you're not going to survive that yeah
00:53:53
it's not it's not a cry for help at all no did he had he did your mom have any
00:53:57
idea did anyone in the family had any IDE everyone knew that it was suicide as soon as they found out about it no but
00:54:02
did anyone anyone know he was like struggling mentally yeah well as soon as yeah as soon as people found out or got
00:54:08
told that Dad had passed away they all thought suicide I was just the only one that
00:54:13
didn't think that and so when when you found that out did it give you more of sort of um
00:54:22
empathy or understanding of um like how hard he was growing up like a lot of it probably came from a place of anger
00:54:27
maybe bought on by mental health no cuz I almost thought he bloody got me to the
00:54:31
brink of Heaven my own mental health dead anded middle house so I I just I just felt hard done by man like I
00:54:39
did I was kind of like what a dick like you've you've pushed me to the point of
00:54:44
breaking point at least once a week for for my life not my life probably my last
00:54:50
four years at home 5 years at home and and and you tell me how tough you have to be and and that's that's the way you
00:54:57
go about it so I just felt really ripped off well mentally you're you're like a
00:55:02
white David Goggins like you you are hardcore you like like d if David Goggins and Cameron Haynes had a baby
00:55:11
you'd be the product um how are you with like vulnerability and being like open
00:55:16
and honest with people you love about your position like I suppose what I'm asking in a in a roundabout sort of way
00:55:22
is like um are you scared that one day you could end up in the same sort of I'd
00:55:27
be I'd be lying if I said that I didn't or haven't thought that and I probably
00:55:31
only think that when people um bring that up because they're like oh you're
00:55:36
worried that that's going to be your path but I look at the infrastructure I
00:55:40
put around myself every day and and I've I give myself I think if I was going to
00:55:45
have mental health issues I would have had it by now and I'm not trying to jinx
00:55:48
myself or whatever and I know it's not a choice but I do everything I can to
00:55:53
counteract mental health issues right right I I I look after myself I exercise I I do the best I can and whilst I'd
00:56:01
consider myself not a selfish person I'm incredibly selfish on my time and what I
00:56:06
need to to be the best version of myself so I'm not worried I I just need I just
00:56:12
want to keep looking after myself and being positive but being vulnerable um I'm always open and happy to be
00:56:19
vulnerable when I need to be but but it's kind of you know if if someone grazes knee you can make it out to be
00:56:27
something that's not or or you can kind of address it for a Graz and and and
00:56:32
look after it and go from there people like to make some things worse 100% I think there's a lot of people that
00:56:37
thrive on the victim mentality I hate victim yeah likewise what what do you think you'll be like if you're lucky
00:56:43
enough to be a dead one day like you think um because you you you're you're
00:56:47
very hard on yourself um you have high expectations for your staff and your team around you y um you think you'll
00:56:53
definitely be a more comp passionate dead than what your dad was you can't get away with suffocating your kid no I
00:56:58
won't be doing that look man I like and I think I think it's about probably for
00:57:03
me getting some of that competitiveness out getting that stuff out before that time comes right I'm 29 like to have a
00:57:10
kid or two by the time I'm 35 and I can't wait I like I I've got nephews and
00:57:15
nieces they're the light to a to any day right and they're phenomenal and it's it
00:57:21
actually really gives me a great energy left seeing them so I can't wait to be a
00:57:25
dad when whenever that time comes I'm not in a rush um but and and I think it's I I I know what I don't want to be
00:57:32
and I know what I want to be and and look I've got no no doubt it's going to
00:57:36
be a lot more challenging than than than what people make it out well you know it's going to be harder than people say
00:57:41
it is but I'm aware of that and I'm ready for it I think being being honest
00:57:45
with myself and and knowing the dead I I ultimately want to be when the time comes but that's just not not now yeah
00:57:51
so yes so your dead passes you um get out of gizy straight back to your life Inland bury yourself and your and your
00:57:58
your soccer um just train hard work hard part of that I I suppose a psychologist
00:58:03
might say was like a coping mechanism massively was a coping mechanism yeah and and then what what happened with
00:58:08
your heart so so today I've got hypertrophic copath right so I had the the whole ECGs got rushed in the
00:58:15
hospital said you've had several heart attacks then I'm in hospital you get
00:58:20
diagnos I didn't actually get diagnosed on the spot because they just didn't
00:58:23
know what was going on they thought had some elements of cardiopathy but they also thought I had some elements of
00:58:27
athletes heart um which is kind of like triathletes and and whatever to that as well like an enlarged heart which you
00:58:35
think is a good thing it's like a muscle you train bigger so but what then we
00:58:40
ended up uncovering is that I actually have deficiencies in in my heart functionality and that that what does
00:58:45
the Tans copy which is just the heart Des we not just it's a heart disease um
00:58:50
and hypertrophic is from overtraining so I live with that every day got a heart disease I I like I was explaining to you
00:58:57
it's a bit more than a rolled ankle but I I that's how I'd describe it right you
00:59:01
know you've got it if some days if you walking it too much next day it's going
00:59:05
to be a bit sore if I push the boundary too much I I I'm not very good at regulating when I should push and pull
00:59:13
oh no [ __ ] and and and I kind of think [ __ ] I've I've push a boat here I need to
00:59:19
have a bit of a slower slower week or or or or a holiday it can be a bit in between I get we had a sauna this
00:59:26
morning and saas are fabulous but everything to the heart but I I do under about 3 minutes in an ice yeah but this
00:59:34
you know I'm just not going to I'm not going to let it I'm not going to be
00:59:37
beholding to it like never I'm not going to use as an excuses to why I can't do
00:59:42
something but I need to I do I'm I need to I'd be as sensible as I can with it
00:59:47
um I could always be better with it but I my life's fastpaced and I need to be
00:59:53
moving at PACE and and that requires exercise and I think that's the thing it's a catch 22 if I do too much then my
00:59:59
heart spells up again then I'll go to my next appointment so I have to get kind
01:00:03
of six to 12 month checkups and they go and put me on this um Tri Mill and and I
01:00:08
do a MRI scan and in a ultrasound and they tell me if my heart's swollen and
01:00:13
stuff like that so if it's swollen they have to slow down so it's quite a scary
01:00:17
concept my heart basically is pumps up pumps down it it swells up and and unwell and the the challenge have is
01:00:25
once it starts to go to swell if I can't reduce it then it will just keep growing
01:00:31
and that's when there there starts to be bit more so are you on meds you on like
01:00:35
beta blockers or you got a pacemaker or look I'm meant to be but I'm a nightmare
01:00:40
with remembering to take them so I and and I look why why don't you you I feel
01:00:46
like you s of almost said this as a badge of honor like you know that's definitely not a badge of honor gez no
01:00:50
it's it's not that because I like I take blood thinners and it does make it it
01:00:54
actually does interrupt my day like if I was on them now uh I'd get out of here
01:00:59
and I'd have to get up slowly and like my next five steps I'd have to be
01:01:03
careful because I'd probably end up on the couch so it is quite light here it's
01:01:06
definitely not a badge and and I get it but I kind of think because the last time I went it was the first time I'd
01:01:13
had functional Improvement um in my heart for seven years and I put that down to saering some people roll their
01:01:19
eyes but I'm like that's the only change I made so for me sort of feels good and
01:01:23
the scientific benefits are there yeah so for me that that that's kind of it
01:01:27
yeah so so take us back to that diagnosis so you're in a hospital you're
01:01:31
you're a young guy your dad passed away a couple of years earlier I'm I'm in
01:01:35
hospital cuz they they I'm in the cardio Ward right I'm the only guy without
01:01:38
white here right is awful awful so I got all these if Rob P's listening to this
01:01:45
there is nothing wrong with white hair Silver Fox the uh you know I'm in this
01:01:49
I'm in this I'm in this Ward there bunch of old people and I'm sitting here
01:01:53
thinking what am I doing in here you know and because there was so much ambiguity and uncertainty on on what
01:01:59
actually was the case I actually checked myself out of hospital without being told I my my mom
01:02:06
came up and my brother came up and I just said guys I'm getting out of here I
01:02:09
don't know is he don't check yourself out I thought we're not going to find the
01:02:14
answer out tomorrow we're not going to find out next week I'm checking myself
01:02:18
out of hospital no don't do it so I end up checking myself out of hospital and
01:02:23
kind of just going back over time and and un and kind of working back up to actually what the what the issue was and
01:02:29
stuff like that so it was um yeah kind of I I I knew there was a problem and it was just about making sure I I tried to
01:02:37
go I was sick of crying I was just just in the hospital crying about dead and I was kind of like so you managed to sort
01:02:44
of park it or bury it until that point and then it all sort of so it a combination of you for your own product
01:02:49
maintain for your dad yeah yeah it it was a bit of that but I didn't get out
01:02:52
of there because I was probably answer that wrong I didn't get out of there because I was sick of crying about that
01:02:58
I got out of there because I just felt like we weren't making any progress and
01:03:01
I thought what's sitting in here with tubes and things stuck to me feeling like I'm about to die going to do when
01:03:08
we I can go and live my life and go to a specialist appointment in 3 months and I'll know more then than when I will now
01:03:14
and that was my mentality which is unorthodox yeah well I mean you don't want to live your life in Cotton wall
01:03:20
though don't you what's is that but then you do okay so you sort of take the
01:03:25
expert advice yeah and then pick and choose bits of it yeah I'm getting better at at not picking and choosing
01:03:32
are you getting better I am I am I am um and and you know I'm still young I guess
01:03:38
in the grand scheme but but you know your body you know you've only got one body so it's kind of just learning and
01:03:44
treating it a bit better than than I did the year before yeah and um you've you've recently just um had a
01:03:50
relationship breakup you're engaged and you've just bro broken up how I mean
01:03:54
you've been through so much in your life and I suppose with the business skills
01:03:58
you've developed over the last nine years you've become very good at having
01:04:01
tough conversations which I suppose is a professional skill which he carries over
01:04:04
to your private oh dude I wouldn't I wouldn't consider my my communication
01:04:09
approach the best way um but look breakups are breakups man they happen she was a cool chick um it you just got
01:04:17
different stages and at different frequencies and at different RI counts right and and and whatever happens in
01:04:23
life every day is a new day just got to get one foot after the other and and and
01:04:26
keep pushing and and I think do do you allow yourself to mop for a bit so this is a big thing like a relationship I was
01:04:32
I was sick for a week so I was kind of stuck in bed so it was actually really good kind of had a breather had to think
01:04:37
about things and just thought actually where where where do I need to be better next next time round and and I'm all I
01:04:45
love self-reflection I love love being accountable for myself and and knowing what couldn't and could have been
01:04:51
different um and it's just about going forward from there in in the most respectful way possible Right but and
01:04:57
and you know I don't say this in a in a in a spiteful way but for me no day is
01:05:03
tougher than putting your dad in the ground in a coffin so I guess my emotional capacity has been stretched
01:05:10
far beyond where I'd wish that to be anyone so you kind of have you have tougher days and and and you do have
01:05:16
tough days and and there's always a reference point to thing actually if I can come back from that and and that
01:05:22
that's actually often an anchor point for me in a lot things if you can't
01:05:25
actually I've had that day just keep going you know tomorrow's new day get up
01:05:29
get after it only Ford One Direction that's way I look at it I think that's
01:05:34
probably a good place to end yeah um yeah it's been an accelerat you're you're a busy guy I'm a bu I'm not a
01:05:41
busy guy you're a very busy guy um busy is he from gizy um but these are all
01:05:47
chapters that would be worthy of being their own podcast maybe we um dive deeper another time but man you're
01:05:52
inspiring you're an inspiring go to be around um just by being around you you
01:05:56
want to do better and do more and push yourself further cool I appreciate it man it's it's been awesome to catch up
01:06:02
and and I hope you enjoyed the morning yeah H you're off to Vegas tonight for a
01:06:05
friend's birthday my advice you don't don't gamble over there cuz the house
01:06:09
usually wins I'm I'm I'm quite impulsive nature so I try and stay away from that
01:06:13
all right hey I you're a great New Zealander can't wait to see what you do
01:06:16
next with alh and whatever other business VES you're involved with cool cheers mate thanks he
01:06:23
d [Music] w