Stories
We all experience certain exclamation points in our life. Events or experiences that on reflection (if not in the moment) feel significant in shaping who you are and what you believe. These are the stories that we tell about ourselves, and this is a selection of mine.
- Wholesale change and renegotiation
In 2018 we decided to take our two girls out of school for a term and travel up the East Coast of Australia for three months. I couldn’t necessarily take that much time off work so I decided… Read More - My corporate gig
I don’t actually have a lot of corporate experience but the experience I got was a valuable one. I spent about three years working with Rio Tinto in my home town of Perth. While I was there I… Read More - The Big Picture
In 2006 I sold my share in a boat broking business I owned with my Dad and another business partner Pete. Growing up around the water and fishing boats I loved the industry, and I also really loved… Read More - Sydney to Hobart in a boat
On boxing day 2004 I sailed in the Sydney Hobart yacht race. I tell this story quite often in my keynotes and the weather was particularly terrible (as per the video above) but there are a few details… Read More - The first time phones were cool
I got a Motorola RAZR back in 2004. It wasn’t the first phone I ever owned but it was definitely the first one that was cool to own. In fact I’m going to make the bold claim that… Read More - Meeting my wife
One thing I’ve learned over the last few years is that a good idea at the wrong time is not necessarily a good idea. And this pretty much sums up what it was like when I met my… Read More - Doom LAN party
Nothing says geek like a Doom LAN party back in the 90s. Somwhere around 1996 my Dad convinced me to buy a whole bunch of second hand computers from a business that went into receivership. There was about… Read More - You Don’t Know Jack
This is probably the best computer game that has ever been released…in 1995. It was an trivia game that came on CD-ROM that worked as a particularly good drinking game during my university years. It’s also worth checking… Read More - Family Dinner
I don’t know exactly when the tradition of family dinner started but it was somewhere around the time I left high school. The tradition was started by my mum who thought it would be nice to invite some… Read More - Family business
In 1996 I began working in the family business part time while also starting my undergraduate degree. I didn’t necessarily appreciate it at the time but working in a family business alongside my Dad was one of the… Read More - My first real job
After finishing high school I took a year off and spent the first six months working in a seafood processing factory owned by Kailis Bros. I’m incredibly grateful for this job. I’m fairly sure the only reason I… Read More - Cooking lessons
I’m not saying this to be boastful but I’m a pretty good cook. Amongst family and friends I’m normally the one who people hope/expect will volunteer to take over the kitchen at big gatherings. Plus I genuinely love… Read More - My first computer was a tablet
Saying that your first computer was a tablet in 2020 doesn’t sound weird at all but when I rocked up to my first year of university in 1996 with one of these bad boys under my arm it… Read More - Frogger
My Dad was always had a keen interest in technology and there is little doubt that this was a massive influence on me. He was one of the first lobster fishermen in Western Australia to use technologies such… Read More - 12 years at a private boys school
I went to a private boys school in Perth called Scotch College for my entire schooling. I was good at the things that school’s like kids to be good at. I did the logical stuff well (maths, science… Read More
