There’s people I admire deeply, whose work, life and stories inspire me. As I connect the dots I realise how much influence my role models yield — the way I think, the ideas I have and the purpose I’d like my work to have. Here’s who they are: Leila Janah, founder of Samasource and LXMI and author of Give Work …
Dresden Optics is trash. Buy a pair today
How can prescription glasses possibly be $49 AND come with a lifetime warranty? Hello startups. Heard of Dresden Optics? German inspired, made with love in Australia. The story starts in 2016 when I had my new prescription and was looking for my first pair of glasses. I stumbled across the guys behind Dresden at the Sustainable Living Festival in Melbourne …
When do we become evil?
There’s this clip on YouTube from 1994 that shows Tobacco Company CEO’s testify before Congress on whether nicotine is addictive. All the evidence presenting that it is clearly addictive lies in front of them on their desk. One by one each of the global heads of tobacco companies answer “I do not believe nicotine is addictive”. All 7 of them. …
Yes, People Still Care About Caste in Australia.
They’re well educated too. I spent the the weekend watching Daughters of Destiny on Netflix, a 4 part documenary that vividly captures the stories of girls who attend Shanti Bhavan boarding school in India, just outside Bangalore. It’s moving and I cried. I cried because it pains me to see how we limit opportunities for very capable young people simply …
What to do when you don’t make it.
Whether it’s a startup accelerator, scholarship, degree, competition or a job — chances are if you’re successful at some of these you’ll be knocked back more times than you know it. But what do you do when you get knocked back? The short answer is — you’re well ahead of those who haven’t even tried. So congratulations, you’re one of …
6 TED Talks worth watching
TED talks are a great source of inspiration, a platform to hear ideas from across the globe. Though there’s so many it’s difficult to know where to start. Here’s my list of favourites. Why There’s Too Few Women in Leadership — Sheryl Sandberg. I’ve watched this at least 10 times, this talk helped me negotiate my first salary — it …
How To Be Confident
How To Be Confident. Know what you stand for Know what your values are Know what you care about Know yourself Own your decisions Own your actions Own your mistakes Own your character Admit where you went wrong Admit where you performed poorly Admit when you don’t know where to start. There’s a fine balance between working out how much …
What do you want to do?
I get asked frequently what do you want to do? This question makes me a little uncomfortable. The easy yet somewhat self deprecating answer is I don’t know. It’s a cop out really. But if I really think about it and get uncomfortable, I know exactly what I want to do. I know in the long run I want to …
Courage To Be Vulnerable
It pains me to see this. But so often I see talent restrained by a lack of confidence or courage. Courage to be vulnerable. Courage to put your creative work out there. Courage to accept that not everyone is going to like it. But that’s okay because you’re never there to please everyone. If you make one person smile or …
The One Constant Thing
Plants grow. People mature. Places look different. We change. It’s guaranteed that the one thing constant in life is change. So why do we avoid it? Most companies see change and ignore it. They create a strong foundation for disruption. Content with the status quo they watch as startups take over their market share with a product they had the …