James MacGregor is one of a trio of co-founders who developed Biteable, an online video-making software, out of Hobart in 2014. In the four years since, Biteable has amassed a staggering 4 million users looking to make eye-catching animated videos without blowing the budget as they would've had to previously. James has been an integral part of a few other startups and businesses - he's a software engineer by trade but is also well versed in both product design and marketing. We chat about how Bi...
Dec 14, 2018•34 min•Ep. 71
Jed Altschwager is a 33-year-old bloke with a wife, young child and another one on the way. He's the kind of guy who injects positive energy into the room when he walks in. Jed's also an amputee. In 2015, he lost his left leg in an accident at work, and so began the long journey to both mental and physical recovery. Jed speaks of realising, on that hospital bed, that he had a choice: to either fall into drinking, depression and self-pity, or to pick himself up, attack his rehab and be a positive...
Dec 06, 2018•42 min•Ep. 70
Christine Manfield is a self-taught yet celebrated chef who originally began her career as a teacher. The talented home cook later decided to switch lanes and went on to head up three award-winning restaurants in London and Sydney from 1993. As she confesses to Nicole, however, there's been no 'game plan' involved despite her going from strength to strength in the culinary world. Christine's released a successful spice collection, hosted plenty of gastronomic tours and continues to impart her kn...
Nov 22, 2018•29 min•Ep. 69
Graham Cornes is a household name in Adelaide and the other AFL-obsessed parts of Australia. But despite going on to be a prominent media figure after his decorated playing and coaching careers, not many people know what he's had to deal with on a personal level over the trip. He grew up in a broken family that had next to nothing, lost touch with his mother for 30 years and spent two years in the army in his early 20s, serving a short stint in Vietnam just as his football career was getting sta...
Nov 15, 2018•43 min•Ep. 68
Gillian Armstrong is a feature film and documentary director who's been at the forefront of the industry for over three decades. She became a director at age 27 and the first woman to direct an Australian feature film in almost half a century when she made her debut with My Brilliant Career in 1979. Gillian's since been showered with awards, beckoned by Hollywood and an advocate for women's rights within the male-dominated sphere of film. She caught up with Nicole to chat about the exhibition th...
Nov 09, 2018•29 min•Ep. 67
South Aussies Russell Ivanovic and Philip Simpson first burst onto the scene in 2008 with their debut app, Pocket Weather, and were well ahead of the game when they launched Pocket Casts in 2010. Pocket Casts sought to address the convoluted process of listening to podcasts on your phone, well before Apple or Android had developed their own listening apps. Now, it's been acquired by four major US players in the industry (think NPR and This American Life), but Shifty jelly – Russell and Phil's de...
Nov 02, 2018•38 min•Ep. 66
Chris Pitman served 20 years in the Royal Australian Navy and was deployed to Iraq on multiple occasions before his medical discharge. He left with serious knee and hip issues, but they were nothing compared to what he has dealt with mentally. As he tried to return to the 'real world', he sank into depression and alcoholism which led to him becoming severely overweight. This week, however, he makes an enormous step in his recovery by representing Australia in the Invictus Games. How's he done it...
Oct 18, 2018•16 min•Ep. 65
Two of Australia's most highly-regarded filmmakers are in the Pod to discuss their newest and most unique collaboration to date. The Waiting Room, launched as part of the Adelaide Film Festival, is a 3D Virtual-Reality piece that explores confronting and thought-provoking ideas. Rolf de Heer and Molly Reynolds have a rare synergy that goes well beyond the screen. Nicole probes them about how the daring concept came about, what they're hoping the audience comes away with, the technological hurdle...
Oct 11, 2018•32 min•Ep. 64
Cameron Adams is one of three founding members of Canva, an online graphic design software that makes creating stunning visuals accessible for everyday people. He's actually the technical brains behind it all – though he won't admit that – having spent three years as a User Interface Designer at Google. Canva is only six years old, but it's worth over $1bn, is used by 10 million people and employs over 350 staff! It's also renowned as the greatest place to work in the country, thanks to its stro...
Oct 04, 2018•25 min•Ep. 63
Andre Eikmeier failed at every professional venture he attempted - including acting on Aussie TV drama A Country Practice - before he followed his passion for good wine into business with his brother-in-law Justin in 2011. Vinomofo, an online wine delivery and discount service, was first run out of a garage in Adelaide, but grew to have over 100 employees, 500,000 customers, a presence in New Zealand and Singapore and HQ in Melbourne. Andre's just recently relinquished his role as co-CEO to star...
Sep 26, 2018•46 min•Ep. 62
Robert McFarlane first realised the power of photography at high school in the 1950s, a realisation that so heavily resonated with him that he went on to become one of Australia's most authoritative documentary photographers. After a brief stint as a copy boy at an advertising agency, he followed his passion into photojournalism, which took him to Sydney in 1963 and London in 1969. He's used his talent both to cut through important social issues - his enduring photograph of Aboriginal activist C...
Sep 13, 2018•25 min•Ep. 61
Tom Williams is a familiar face on Australian Television, having hosted The Great Outdoors, Dancing with the Stars, The Mole and now The Daily Edition since first appearing as 'Tom the chippy' on Triple J. But he had far from the traditional journey to his career in the media - he was working in construction all through his 20s, competing in surf lifesaving events on the weekends, and it wasn't until he phoned in to the radio in 2000 that he found himself on the airwaves. As Tom describes, he's ...
Sep 06, 2018•21 min•Ep. 60
Katie Sarah is a 49-year-old mother to three boys, who only began her mountaineering career a little over a decade ago. Now, she's the first woman to the complete the seven-seven challenge - which means she's summited the highest mountains and volcanic peaks on all seven continents. Wow! But what is it that saw her go from the 'rat race' to spending all of her spare time either at altitude or preparing to be? Katie's all about asking 'why couldn't I?' instead of saying 'Oh, I couldn't.' And it's...
Aug 30, 2018•38 min•Ep. 59
Julie McCrossin is a veteran Australian radio broadcaster, journalist and comedian who you'll remember from her roles on 'Good News Week' and 'Life Matters'. Since the 1970's, she's been an ever-present activist for women's and gay rights, having been involved in the 1978 protests that went on to become the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. Now, she's advocating for a different cause, having survived Stage 4 throat cancer that almost took her voice, and her life, in 2013. As you'll hear, she's ...
Aug 15, 2018•30 min•Ep. 58
Nicole is fresh from a couple of weeks in the United States, where she was struck by some of the questions that she was asked by citizens concerned with how the powerhouse was being perceived on the back of its polarising President. So, we got two of Adelaide's most qualified American academics to shed some light on the political landscape in their native country. Dr Tom Buchanan completed a Masters and Ph.D. in History at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, before coming to the University...
Aug 09, 2018•42 min•Ep. 57
Peter Gago has been at the helm of wine production at the prestigious Penfolds in South Australia for over 16 years, having begun his career as a Maths and Science teacher before heading to Roseworthy Agricultural College. Penfolds is one of the most iconic labels in the world, renowned for its wines' longevity and ability to cellar. As they enter their 175th year in the market, Peter recognises the company's ongoing challenge is to continue to innovate and evolve without detracting from the tra...
Jul 25, 2018•39 min•Ep. 56
Sebastian Rees and fellow GP Troye Wallett co founded and run GenWise, an online platform that streamlines processes for doctors working in aged care. GenWise has been such a success that it took home the 2017 Telstra Australian Business of the Year. Sebastian is a considered and dedicated young man whose overriding purpose is to help others, and often those who need it most. He was recently recognised with the 'First Among Equals' Award at InDaily's 40 under 40 awards. In today's chat, Sebastia...
Jul 18, 2018•46 min•Ep. 55
Wes Heddles is one half of a South Australian distillery that's taking the gin market by storm. He and good mate Adam Carpenter have created and run Prohibition Gin, while they both continue to work full-time in other areas. The time commitment is massive, and only someone with Wes' passion and energy (and ability to run off little sleep!) could pull it off. As we find out today, however, it won't be long before these two are fully-fledged businessmen in the booze industry. Prohibition Gin has w...
Jul 11, 2018•38 min•Ep. 54
Stop drifting, Start rowing. In 2000, Roz Savage was making the commute to her management consultancy job in London when she had an epiphany. She was comfortable, but not where she wanted to be. So she abandoned her job, house and husband to become the first woman to row solo across three oceans, which took around 5 million oar strokes! She's an environmental advocate, United Nations Climate Change Hero, speaker, author and super inspiring. In this chat, she reveals her thoughts on the track soc...
Jul 03, 2018•44 min•Ep. 53
Steve Baxter is a former soldier who founded his first business, SE Net, with his life savings at 23, after dropping out of school to join the army at just 15. The startup was an internet service provider that he ran out of the spare room of his Adelaide home in the dial-up days of 1994. Since selling SE Net, he's worked on many other technological ventures, made a bucket-load of cash and even spent time working for Google. Now, he prefers to invest in other people's ideas and graces our TV scre...
Jun 26, 2018•24 min•Ep. 52
Tony Vidmar played 76 games for the Socceroos, making him one of our most capped International players. The attacking defender played an unforgettable role in qualifying the team for its first World Cup in 32 years, when he rattled home the third penalty of the famous shootout against Uruguay in 2005. Tragically, he was unable to take part in the World Cup after he was diagnosed with a heart condition in the lead up - something he still finds hard to talk about 12 years on. In this episode: 1. H...
Jun 19, 2018•39 min•Ep. 51
As co-owner and executive chef at the Lake House in Daylesford, Alla Wolf-Tasker AM has done more to shape regional Australian dining in the last three decades than anyone else. Her contributions to the industry have been recognised with two Living Legend awards and as a member of the Order of Australia. She takes Nicole behind her unbridled passion in a chat about her migrant parents, how she stays energised and much, much more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jun 05, 2018•52 min•Ep. 50
Jake Millar became the first teenager to sell a company to the New Zealand government when he sold his first startup – video platform, OOMPHER – at just 19. Now, he's 22, based in New York and fully immersed in Unfiltered, his current venture, which features interviews with some of the most prominent entrepreneurs and business minds in the world. They recently raised $1.2 million in capital ahead of expansion into the US. In 2016, Jake achieved a childhood dream when he got to interview Richard ...
May 30, 2018•47 min•Ep. 49
Tony Clark helped found Rising Sun Pictures over a pint of Coopers Ale in 1995. Since then, the company has created visual effects for countless Hollywood blockbusters from its modest production studio in Adelaide. Along the way, he's won an Academy Award, an Emmy and has helped kickstart the careers of hundreds of South Australians. They currently employ over 200 staff! He speaks to Nicole about which aspect of his work is most important to him, the challenge to keep up with the rapidly evolvin...
May 18, 2018•42 min•Ep. 48
Moira Kelly decided she wanted to become an aid worker when she was just eight years old, after seeing a documentary film about Mother Theresa. Since leaving school, she's devoted her life to improving the lives of children all over the world and established the Moira Kelly Creating Hope Foundation along the way. She's now the legal guardian of originally conjoined twins from Bangladesh – Trishna and Krishna – and Iraqi born brothers Emmanuel and Ahmed Kelly, whose limbs are underdeveloped due t...
May 11, 2018•32 min•Ep. 47
Greg Duncan is a self-taught artist and sculptor who has undertaken one of the most ambitious art projects in recent times. In 2003, he and wife Marg sold the family home to move to Derwent Bridge in the Tasmanian Highlands, to allow Greg to start working on a piece of work that would consume over a decade of his life. The Wall in the Wilderness is made up of 100 carved Huon pine panels - three metres high, one metre wide and placed back-to-back. It must be seen to be believed. Greg opens up to ...
May 01, 2018•26 min•Ep. 46
We chat with Dublin born and Raymon Blanc trained chef, Colin Fassnidge about the heat of the kitchen, life away from the stoves, being a celebrity chef and his take on the Australian food scene. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 22, 2018•18 min•Ep. 45
If you're a business mind or aspiring entrepreneur, you need to hear this chat with a forward-thinker who has the world at his feet. Tim Fung is the co-founder and CEO of Airtasker – an online and mobile marketplace on which anyone can outsource almost any task. Tim founded the platform with his mate Jonathan in Sydney in 2012 and it's now zooming towards two million users and overseas expansion. Nicole asks him about how he stays true to himself, the biggest lessons he's learnt along the way an...
Apr 13, 2018•24 min•Ep. 44
Professor David David is a world-leading craniofacial surgeon and the 2018 South Australian of the Year. He first established the Australian Craniofacial Unit in Adelaide in 1975, and the organisation has gone on to improve the lives of countless patients both at home and abroad. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Apr 06, 2018•37 min•Ep. 43
Deco Cuffe is the character that brought Irishman Andrew Strong to the attention of the public when he was a fresh-faced 17 year old. He's been navigating the music industry for almost three decades since then, and has managed to remain as grounded and grateful as possible. He took time out of his tour to join Nicole in the Pod, where they discussed his upbringing, how he feels about the role that brought him to the spotlight and what makes him tick away from the stage. https://www.facebook.com/...
Mar 29, 2018•33 min•Ep. 42
