Australia Archives - Page 2 of 2

Bobbi Mahlab AM – Defining Success on Her Terms

March 24, 2020
by Claire

Our guest this week is entrepreneur and philanthropist, Bobbi Mahlab.

We think you’ll love Bobbi; she’s authentic, brave and very humble!

More than 20 years ago, Bobbi founded the content marketing and communications agency, ‘Mahlab’. Given how much the publishing and content businesses have changed in two decades, it’s a testimony to Bobbi’s foresight and agility that the business thrives and continues to evolve today.

Much more recently, Bobbi also co-founded the fast-expanding Australian arm of Mentor Walks, an initiative she was exposed to when she took part in a Mentor Walk in China, the brainchild of one of our earlier podcast guests, Michelle Garnaut.

Bobbi’s business has won multiple awards and accolades, and Bobbi herself also has her fair share of honours including recently being appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for her services to women, publishing and philanthropy.

Bobbi has some fascinating insights and perspectives on women in business and being an entrepreneur, particularly thanks to the insights she gleans from all the women taking part in Mentor Walks as well as from being a Juror on the prestigious international Cartier Women’s Initiative awards for entrepreneurs.

In this episode you’ll hear:

How it felt to grow up with a very high profile and feminist mother
Why Bobbi thinks leaders need to act like a hammerhead shark
What it was that made her walk into her office one day and say “everything changes from today”
The formative experience that taught Bobbi to think bigger

Enjoy this episode with the humble, wise and entertaining, Bobbi Mahlab.

Links of interest

Mahlab Media

Mentor Walks Australia

Cartier Womens Initiative

Episode photo credit: Mumbrella

Interview

Que Dallara – Unlocks What It Takes to Be…

January 15, 2020
by Claire

From extreme disadvantage in her childhood, Honeywell Connected Enterprise (HCE) President and CEO, Que Dallara, has been driven all her life to ensure she and her family are far from the memories she has of begging for rice as a child refugee.

We’re in awe of what Que has so thoughtfully achieved over the years taking her from supporting her family and herself through school and uni, to reach the highest echelons of corporate America.

Que grew up in Australia and worked there for McKinsey and numerous corporates before moving to the US almost 20 years ago via an MBA at Insead. She worked in senior roles for Microsoft, TE Connectivity and now is running HCE for Honeywell. Que is leading the industrial giant’s transformative push into software sales and the Internet of Things.

Alongside all of this, she’s also the mum of three kids!

We urge you not to miss this episode which shares not only Que’s incredible life story but also some of the finest career advice you’re likely to hear.

In this episode you’ll learn:

What impact Que’s dramatic and dangerous escape from Vietnam has had on her life
How having to pay for her education and support her family, saw her running a successful business by the age of 16!
The one key thing Que realised she (and others) need to develop to keep progressing in their careers
How she goes about leading a major innovation play within a huge conglomerate.

Enjoy this episode with the humble, yet ever so impressive, Que Dallara.

Useful Links

Que’s LinkedIn

Honeywell – click on Honeywell Forge to see Que’s Division

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Interview

June Dally Watkins – Redefining What’s Possible for Women…

November 19, 2019
by admin

This week’s guest is a woman who at the age of 92 is still inspiring thousands of women to be the “best they can be!”. We’re talking about the incredible doyenne of etiquette and deportment, June Dally Watkins.

Miss Dally, as she is known, grew up on a sheep farm and attended a one teacher bush school in regional Australia. Her teacher told her mother that she “would be an absolute failure in life”. He couldn’t have been more wrong.

At 22, June became Australia’s Fashion Model of the Year and soon became Australia’s first supermodel. She lived the high life as part of the global jetset becoming great friends with Hollywood stars Audrey Hepburn, Bing Crosby and Gregory Peck (who asked her to marry him!).

When she came back to Australia she started her now famous etiquette and deportment business which made her one of Australia’s first female entrepreneurs. The June Dally Watkins School has gone on to change thousands and thousands of people’s lives.

She is now, at 92 years of age, an absolute sensation in China where she goes for weeks at a time to teach thousands to be “the best they can be”.

In this episode you’ll learn:

How hard it was to be one of the first business women in Australia when women were expected to play the traditional housewife role
Why June pushed through condemnation and criticism to build her business
How she came to be so in demand in China in her 90’s
And her advice on how to stay young.

Enjoy this episode with the delightful and determined June Dally Watkins.

Useful Links

June Dally Watkins Website (JDW)

Sydney Morning Herald Good Weekend Article on June Dally Watkins

JDW on Facebook

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Interview

Dr Cath Ball – Flying High with Drones and…

September 24, 2019September 24, 2019
by admin

In this week’s episode we meet an entrepreneur and innovator who’s been through more than her fair share of challenge and trauma, yet has found a way to forge her own unique path. We’re talking about the irrepressible Dr Catherine Ball.

Catherine, or Cath, grew up in a pretty poor, single parent household in an industrial town in the UK. Unlike her peers she was determined to go to university where she studied environmental protection. She then went on to complete a PHD – a process she now describes as torturous.

Needing to pay off her student debt, her path then took her into the corporate world where she worked with a number of engineering consultancies in the UK and then in Australia.

Just as Cath was being recognised as a leader in her space receiving the Queensland Telstra Business Woman of the Year award in 2015, her company merged with a competitor and she, to her surprise, was made redundant.

It was this shocking jolt that led her to start her first company and led to her building on her already existing experience working with drones.

Since then she’s be recognised as a true thought leader in emerging technologies, having been awarded many accolades in Australia, including then AFR Women of Influence and Top 25 Women in Robotics Lists, both in 2016.

In this episode you’ll learn:

How she’s carved out her unique path as an entrepreneur;
How she manages her time involved with 10 different projects plus having a young toddler and another one on the way;
How drones will change our lives and
How you need to think about your career in a world of AI, robotics and cybersecurity.

Enjoy this episode with the witty and inspiring Dr Cath Ball.

Links of Interest

Dr Cath Ball’s website

World of Drones Congress

Dr Cath Ball Linkedin

The Social Start Up

World of Drones Education

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Interview

Ann Sherry – The Positive Change Agent

April 9, 2019
by admin

Ann Sherry is a change maker who’s notched up so many extraordinary achievements during her decades long and inspiring career to date that it’s hard to know where to start. Suffice to say Australian women have a lot to thank her for as one of the many things she’s responsible for is introducing paid maternity leave to corporate Australia.

She also transformed the cruise industry in Australia as CEO of Carnival Australia, notching up double digit growth every year despite having to deal with significant challenges.

Today Ann sits on multiple boards including Carnival Australia where she is Chairman, she is also Chair of UNICEF Australia, and a Non Executive Director (NED) with one of the country’s biggest banks, National Australia Bank (NAB), as well as Sydney Airport, Rugby Australia, the Museum of Contemporary Arts Australia and Palladium.

Ann has many accolades for her extremely varied career to date including a Centenary Medal, an Order of Australia and the overall winner of the Women of Influence award in 2015.

In this episode you’ll hear:

How having a baby with Downs syndrome at just 21 didn’t stop her from pioneering his care and returning to work when he was still young
How she’s learnt to be resilient and not be phased by others judging her
Why she thinks women need to take more risks
And why she controversially bought a host of brightly coloured pant suits shortly after becoming one of the first senior women at a major bank.

For listeners who outside of Australia, near the end of the episode we talk about how there’s recently been a Royal Commission in to banking in Australia – it’s basically a court-style public inquiry into misconduct which unearthed some serious misconduct across the industry.

So please enjoy this fascinating discussion with the inspiring and truly entertaining Ann Sherry.

Links to Ann:

Twitter

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What Is Episode

What is Artificial Intelligence?

January 17, 2019
by admin

Welcome to our first ‘What Is. . .’ episode. And, drumroll please … the topic of our first in this series is Artificial Intelligence (AI).

We’re quite sure you’ll be hearing a lot more about AI this year and so why not start 2019 one step ahead and enjoy this super useful primer on all things AI, all explained simply with some fascinating examples.

In this episode we’re thrilled to feature two world-class AI experts: UK-based Kriti Sharma (see also Episode 19) as well as Australian-based Marie Johnson. (Stay tuned for our longer interview with her coming up in the next few weeks.)

So, if you’re a bit fuzzy about the differences between AI, automation and machine learning then this episode is for you!

You’ll learn:

What AI is and what it isn’t
Some of today’s amazing use cases for AI
What a digital human is and how it can respond to speech, text or even sign language
How to help reduce the chances of bias being coded in to systems
The new types of jobs that AI is creating
How to future-proof yourself
And much more.

Don’t miss this one!

Want our special AI Cheat Sheet briefing?

If you’d like a copy of our ‘What is AI Cheat Sheet’ briefing paper we’ve prepared, then don’t forget to email us at hello@dontstopusnow.co for your copy!

Meet our AI Experts featured in this Episode:

Kriti Sharma

Kriti Sharma is an Artificial Intelligence technologist and a leading global voice on AI ethics and its impact on society. In addition to advising global businesses on AI, she focuses on AI for Social Good. She built her first robot at the age of 15 in India and has been building AI technologies to solve global issues ever since, from productivity to education to domestic violence. Kriti was recently named in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for advancements in AI and was included in the Recode 100 list of key influencers in technology in 2017. She was invited as a Civic Leader by the Obama Foundation Summit for her work in ethical technology. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Google Grace Hopper Scholar and recently gave expert testimony on AI Policy to the UK Parliament in the House of Lords. Earlier this year, Kriti spearheaded the launch of the Sage Future Makers Lab, a forum that will equip young people around the world with hands-on learning for entering a career in Artificial Intelligence.

Kriti was appointed a United Nations Young Leader at the General Assembly in 2018.

Kriti on LinkedIn

Kriti on Twitter

Marie Johnson

Marie has been described as a “public entrepreneur”, “crazy brave” – a trailblazer with a track record for tackling wicked problems head-on. Marie says she prefers the ‘edge’ because it’s uncomfortable and that’s what sparks innovation.

Marie conceived and led the global co-design and co-creation effort with people with disability to deliver ‘Nadia’ the first AI powered digital human for service delivery. This world leading work has sparked a global industry and appetite for AI powered digital humans.

Her next humanitarian project is bringing to life the AI powered ‘Digital Human Cardiac Coach’ – with the mission to make cardiac health information accessible to anyone on the planet.

The digital initiatives Marie has led have been recognised globally. Marie was named ‘Innovative CIO of the Year 2006-2007, Australia’ and in 2013, named one of Australia’s ‘100 Women of Influence’.

An impatient optimist, Marie is an inclusion and diversity advocate. She believes that artificial intelligence is a creative liberating humanising capability, that will truly transform the interactions between people regardless of ability.

Marie on LinkedIn

Marie’s business: Centre for Digital Business

Other Useful Links

All about Pegg, the accounting chat bot (mentioned by Kriti): https://www.sage.com/en-gb/products/pegg/

Article on rAInbow (mentioned by Kriti): https://www.iol.co.za/business-report/technology/new-ai-smart-companion-aims-to-combat-domestic-violence-in-sa-18132692

Video introducing the digital human Nadia (mentioned by Marie): https://youtu.be/lf6L6DrPiOE

Article “The Making of the Digital Human Cardiac Coach” (mentioned by Marie): https://www.cio.co.nz/article/646193/cio-upfront-making-digital-human-cardiac-coach/

MIT Media Lab newsletters (as recommended by Kriti): https://www.media.mit.edu/

Book Marie recommends: AI Superpowers https://www.amazon.com/AI-Superpowers-China-Silicon-Valley-ebook/dp/B0795DNWCF

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Interview

Dr Fiona Wood – The Inspiring Optimist

November 6, 2018
by admin

Our guest today is Dr Fiona Wood, a world-leading burns specialist and innovative surgeon and researcher. She’s a former Australian of the Year for her pioneering burns research and treatments.

Incredibly, she was also voted Australia’s most-trusted-person for six successive years.

Fiona and her groundbreaking ‘Spray-on-skin’ burns treatment came into the public eye in 2002 when 28 victims of the Bali bombings were flown to Perth in Western Australia to receive life-saving burns treatment under her supervision. (Spray on skin greatly reduces permanent scarring.)

Fiona has successfully commercialised “Spray on skin” treatment worldwide and all royalties from this business are used to fund further research into burns treatment through her Foundation.

In this episode hear Fiona talk about:

Her absolute passion for what she does and the responsibility she feels every day in the operating theatre
How she copes and consciously fosters resilience having seen so much suffering first-hand
How she approached commercialising ‘spray-on skin’ without having any commercial experience;
And her memories of the remarkable experience of being Australian of the Year

If you’re anything like us after listening to this conversation you’ll feel like you want to take Fiona out for a coffee, give her a hug and high five her all at the same time!

Enjoy!

Links of interest:

Dr Fiona Wood Foundation Website

Avita Medical

Fiona’s TED Talk

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Interview

Lindley Edwards – Wisdom to Live & Work By

July 3, 2018April 25, 2020
by admin

We’re super excited to share this conversation with Lindley Edwards with you.

Lindley started her career working for one of Australia’s most renowned investment banks, Macquarie Bank, and then found a love of Asia when she took on a VP role with Citibank.

Today, Lindley runs a corporate advisory business called AFG Venture Group which specialises in cross-border investments and transactions, particularly between Asia & Australia. She’s also Chairperson for two startups and a Non-Executive Director of a Think Tank called AsiaLink.

We love the fact that Lindley is definitely not your normal investment banker… we don’t know anyone else who uses philosophy, poetry, biology, and cross-cultural intelligence as their foundation for thinking about business and disruption.

In this episode you’ll hear Lindley share her wisdom about: