Olivia Humphrey has taken her company Kanopy from her spare bedroom in Perth to San Francisco... and turned down some pretty enticing investment offers along the way. She stuck to her guns, keeping her values front of mind at all times, and it paid off. I mean – it really paid off! Kanopy has sold for an eye-watering price. In part two of this revealing interview, Olivia Humphrey walks us through the sale of Kanopy to a private equity firm. It’s the little-told part of many business stories. It ...
Sep 28, 2021•23 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Olivia Humphrey was having lunch in a Napa vineyard when a billionaire stepped in to help turn her genius start-up into a fully-fledged global streaming platform. A former Village Roadshow employee, Olivia came up with the idea to streamline the way universities could secure rights for films and documentaries for students. As streaming took off and Kanopy became a digital platform much like Netflix or Stan, Olivia took her Perth-based company to the US where she quickly stitched up libraries too...
Sep 28, 2021•31 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Meggie Palmer was one of Australia’s best TV journalists, when she learned she wasn’t being paid the same as her male colleagues. She had a choice. Put up with it or speak up and risk it all. This enormous career gamble almost crushed her. Until she realised it could also be the making of her. Disillusioned with the power of traditional media, and galvanised by this first-hand experience with gender discrimination, Meggie turned to tech to send her message. The founder of PepTalkHer reveals how ...
Sep 20, 2021•48 min•Season 2Ep. 7
Imagine a life where the simple act of sitting sends your body into spasms of pain. Entrepreneur Simon Griffiths likes to optimise for success. But pushing far beyond his limits has come at a cost. And it’s a warning for so many leaders. The Who Gives a Crap CEO opens up for the first time about the lengths he went to cope with chronic pain and full physical collapse, including checking into a yoga hospital in India. His life would change with the realisation that gaining control of his mind was...
Sep 13, 2021•51 min•Season 2Ep. 6
A funny thing happened during a Curveball production meeting recently. Our junior producer Liam mentioned that his Mum thinks he needs a mentor. Liam explained that he had some in Rachel and Kellie, who work together to oversee the team that brings you Curveball. But Kellie wasn’t sure she was a mentor to Liam. Sure, he’s given feedback. Sometimes even a pep talk. But is that the same as mentoring? Mentors, coaches, champions. They are all people you might cultivate in your career. But what’s th...
Sep 06, 2021•19 min
Giving in is not the same as giving up . Sometimes, despite your best intentions, things don’t just work out and it’s better to give in to the signs. So many leaders on Curveball have, at some point, found themselves in a tricky situation. And yes, sometimes they’ve pulled through. But what about those times you just can’t pull a rabbit out of a hat? How do you know when it’s time to call time on your business or your dream? Running any company involves the fine art of juggling when to push beyo...
Aug 30, 2021•11 min
Elizabeth Broderick has been fighting for equality since she was in utero. Growing up with a twin sister helped instil a burning sense of fairness in young Liz. She’d go on to become a trailblazing lawyer, Special Rapporteur to the United Nations, and Australia’s longest-serving Sex Discrimination Commissioner. Elizabeth Broderick is a leader who’s spent her whole career negotiating in hostile environments. She’s been across the table from the Trump administration on reproductive rights, battled...
Aug 23, 2021•59 min•Season 2Ep. 5
“Sometimes there’s a monstrous demonic fire front that’s bearing down on your little town, and your little team... and the only thing that you can do to stay alive, is to quietly and quickly make an orderly exit via stage left.” Wow. Let us set the scene for you here. Marine Hautemont and Rob Malicki sent Curveball that message as they clinked champagne glasses in a trailer park in remote northern Australia and toasted their decision to close the doors on their business. The business, AIM Intern...
Aug 16, 2021•46 min•Season 2Ep. 4
Justin Dry lost his house not once, but twice, before he learned to trust his gut. With each loss, the robust Vinomofo founder has picked himself up off the cellar floor and come at it again from a new angle. Dry has aged wisely. He’s grown from the classic idea-machine entrepreneur, through record funding rounds and tough decisions, to responding to crises with exactly the right kind of genius to pull his premium wine delivery business through. Now that VinoMofo’s matured through “the difficult...
Aug 09, 2021•57 min•Season 2Ep. 3
Dwayne Good is no stranger to fighting for survival. Kicked out of home as a teen, and then struggling after the death of his mum, Dwayne drifted until he found himself on an idyllic holiday in Thailand. But it was 2004 and a killer tsunami was about to up-end his life in more ways than one. “The best way to summarize it is confusing. What the hell am I going to do? What have I just seen? What does it all mean? That goes through your head. I did suffer from post-traumatic stress,” he reveals. Dw...
Aug 02, 2021•38 min•Season 2Ep. 2
American lawyer Peggy O’Neal might lead a team of Tigers, but it’s rare to hear her roar. Although you might have heard an enthusiastic “whoop!” or three when her team won those Australian Football League grand finals! That unflappable pragmatism is something the president of Richmond Football Club learned growing up in the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia, USA. Peggy has seen off leadership coups, helped break a 37-year-premiership drought for her beloved Richmond Tigers, and given her al...
Jul 26, 2021•59 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Staring down a board coup when they’re baying for your scalp. Taking back control when you’ve sold a stake in your company. Trusting your vision when you’ve lost it all before. Curveball is back and the stakes have never been higher. Join host Kellie Riordan as she navigates her own start-up journey and learns from other leaders about how they thrive when the chips are down. Richmond Tigers president Peggy O’Neal. Vinomofo founder Justin Dry. Australia’s longest-serving Sex Discrimination Commis...
Jul 18, 2021•4 min
Everyone has the same 24 hours in a day and yet somehow titans of industry seem to cram more in and squeeze more out. How do they do it? How to entrepreneurs and leaders streamline their processes for maximum productivity? If you love Curveball , chances are you’ll enjoy How I Work , hosted by organisational psychologist Dr Amantha Imber. Each episode provides you with the trusted tips and hacks you need to get more out of your day, from mastering your overflowing inbox to managing your energy t...
Mar 29, 2021•16 min
There’s no 101 at business school on making the right call when you’re under fire. But once you’ve assessed all the information and consulted the right people, you need to make the call. And even though it might not be a popular decision, if it’s the right one for your organisation, you need to see it through. Whether it’s making a decision to keep people safe in the face of media outrage, disciplining unruly employees who are also your friends, or being transparent with your team even though th...
Mar 22, 2021•12 min
Losing a parent, watching your kid suffer, or battling a serious illness yourself – the personal adversity many of the country’s top leaders have been through will surprise you. Just because you’re dodging curveballs in your work life, doesn’t mean you’re immune to crises in your personal life. But you know what? The Kate Morrises, Andrew Starks and Briony Scotts of the world dig deep and strategise their way through personal adversity the same way they would in their careers. And not only have ...
Mar 15, 2021•11 min
Working 9 to 5 might be Dolly Parton’s way to make a living, but these days work schedules look riskier and less structured for most. Whether it’s starting a new company, fast-tracking your business, or taking the plunge into the unknown, we’ve been learning about bravery on Curveball. How do you move from that moment of fear and take a courageous step towards the unknown? Be brave! Go on, we dare you! +++ Curveball is the show where leaders are honest about their darkest moments. We take you in...
Mar 08, 2021•9 min
Leaders were once paid the big bucks to come up with a long-term vision, a strategy that could carry a company for years. Now? The most successful leaders are those who can question assumptions, challenge the status quo, and completely reinvent a strategy on the run. World leading organisational psychologist Adam Grant once trained as a magician. He wants you to be equipped to pull a rabbit out of hat when you need to! As a top TED speaker, best-selling author, and leading researcher working wit...
Mar 01, 2021•56 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Borders shut? Planes unable to land? Quarantine bubbles needed in record-time? Duuuuude! No worries! The very future of the world surf pro is on Andrew Stark’s shoulders. He needs to pull off a record number of events and land a charter plane full of international surfers in Australia, so it’s going to take every ounce of his leadership capability to pull this off. Can he do it? If you’ve listened to the first episode with World Surf League boss Andrew Stark, you’ll know he’s not the kind of lea...
Feb 23, 2021•17 min
With his wetsuit zippers blown open, his flotation vest filling fast with water, and his diaphragm heaving, Andrew Stark thought his time was up. But a monster wave on one of Hawaii’s most feared breaks was no match for Stark, a leader who thrives when faced with a threatening swell. Whether it’s mounting world-renowned events at Bell’s Beach or Sunset, or convincing the world that surfing is professional sport, Stark rides every wave all the way to the shore. A tragic family event when Stark wa...
Feb 23, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 9
When Covid restrictions meant an immediate intermission for anyone working in live entertainment, Jeremy Fleming made a phone call no 40-something likes to make. He called his parents to say the shutdown spelt the end for his business and he’d be moving his family of four in with his parents. Staging company Stagekings lost millions in revenue overnight, when client after client called to cancel events. But ever the innovator, CEO Jeremy Fleming was determined the show must go on. With a warehou...
Feb 15, 2021•43 min•Season 1Ep. 8
There’s a scene in Sex and the City where Sarah Jessica Parker gets to ring the famed opening bell on the New York Stock Exchange. Naturally, she’s wearing Jimmy Choos and a Chanel lipstick. Kate Morris dreamt that one day her company Adore Beauty would float on the stock exchange. She got there, but ringing the bell over Zoom from her lounge room? Well that wasn’t quite what she’d imagined. For years Morris slogged it out packing cosmetics in her garage. But with profits plateauing, Morris was ...
Feb 08, 2021•45 min•Season 1Ep. 7
When Mother Cricket calls, Justin Langer answers. With Australian cricket in crisis, imploding amid the ‘sandpaper scandal’, Langer was offered a leadership role many considered a poisoned chalice, but the lure of rebuilding the sport he loved was too strong. His tough-love leadership style doesn’t always win him friends, but the former batsman is determined to see his vision through. Still, nothing quite prepares you for the pressure of a leadership role under this much scrutiny... and the next...
Feb 01, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Season 1Ep. 6
Have you had days when you’ve wanted to shut yourself off on a deserted island, where you could happily work and eat coconuts and speak to no one? Hell yes! Good. It’s not just me then! But truly great leaders understand that without a solid team, without developing and investing in your people, it’s going to get pretty tough to achieve anything. (Also, there’d be no office cakes... and that would be VERY sad!) Managing people is one of the hardest parts of being a leader. But you know what the ...
Jan 25, 2021•8 min
“FAIL AND FAIL FAST” – it's the catch-cry currently echoing from Silicon Valley to entrepreneurial kids trying to make a buck with their latest dance routines on TikTok. But as the great philosophers Chumbawamba sang, if you get knocked down, you can get back up again. How do you fail, but more importantly, recover? Curveball ’s the podcast where leaders tell you how they’ve dealt with huge challenges and crises – and you’d better believe these people have pretty impressive failure resumes! But ...
Jan 18, 2021•7 min
As a new year dawns, are you feeling ready to tackle the year head on? Want a little fresh perspective to help you get ahead? If there’s one thing that sets the greatest leaders above the pack, it’s the mindset they carry through challenging times. Curveball’s the podcast where you learn how to thrive when you’ve been thrown a curly one. But how exactly do you cultivate a positive mindset? How do you create that voice inside that tells you “keep going, you can do it!”? The masterful leaders – th...
Jan 12, 2021•13 min
Pivot. Adapt. Resilience. There's a reason we've heard those words so often in 2020. Curveball is the podcast that gives you an inside look into how top leaders cope with unexpected challenges. And as we settle up the books on a year that’s brought so much risk and uncertainty, those lessons on how to deal with change have never been more welcome! In this special festive season Curveball bonus episode, Smart Company Editor Eloise Keating tells you why her publication pivoted (there it is again) ...
Dec 21, 2020•16 min
Start-up life sounds glamorous. The thrill of chasing an idea that could land you some coin, securing serious dollars from venture capitalists, and that's before you get to the office ping-pong tables and free candy. But behind the scenes, it's both thrilling and gut-wrenchingly scary. Entrepreneur Michael Fox took his first digital fashion start-up Shoes of Prey from humble beginnings in a lounge room to international acclaim. But when the company started tanking and it was burning through cash...
Dec 14, 2020•46 min•Season 1Ep. 5
When COVID-19 first hit Australia, many of us managed to hold it together quite well… until we were asked to sit down and explain year seven algebra. Dr Briony Scott, Principal of Wenona School in Sydney, knows all about the trials and tribulations of solving an unknown value. While Dr Scott was overseeing the closure of her school and helping her students, teachers and parents manage the move to online learning, she was also disseminating rapidly changing public health advice - and all under in...
Dec 07, 2020•44 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Just weeks out from Australia’s biggest live comedy event of the year, the entertainment industry fell victim to the greatest showstopper of the century: a global pandemic. Australia’s biggest comedy agent, Token Group and Guesswork Television boss Kevin Whyte tells you what it was like shifting comedy from stages to zoom screens in record time. But this isn’t the first time Kevin’s put it all on the line. His own Mum had to sign his first venue agreement, because Kevin was barely out of high sc...
Nov 30, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Watching panicked consumers clear the supermarket shelves ignited an idea for Carolyn Creswell . If toilet paper was flying off the shelves in aisle eight, would muesli bars in aisle three be the next must-have item? The Carman’s founder made the decision to increase her stock holdings in the face of huge uncertainty. Will the risky decision pay dividends for the muesli mogul this time? Carolyn shares how she’s been batting away curveballs her whole life, including a major health scare and now r...
Nov 23, 2020•38 min•Season 1Ep. 2
