Episode 82 Podcast Transcript
Speaker 1 (00:00):
These events are the glue that holds our community together. It’s where guys get real and raw. It’s an environment where you can have unfiltered, honest conversations around the good, the bad, and the ugly in your world. And these in-person events are just special. It’s just so good for our clients to get together, just hang out, just celebrate the good times, and especially these awards events for our lifestyle mastermind. It’s just a really important element of what makes this programme so special. Hi everyone. Rob Kropp and Dan Stones here from Pravar Group and welcome back to another episode of The Trade. Dan, welcome back Dan. Good to have you here.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
Good to be back. Hi everyone. A bit of a special one. This one Rob, bit of a different feel to it. We’re going to have a conversation about our recent lifestyle Mastermind event, the annual awards event.
Speaker 1 (00:53):
Yeah, it wasn’t an cracking event and for today’s episode we’re going to take you on a bit of a journey and we’re going to talk through what the event was all about, why we celebrated the different activities and everything that we did, and it’s just a really great opportunity to celebrate the success of our lifestyle clients on the 2025 year. And gee, wasn’t it a cracking event?
Speaker 2 (01:14):
It really was and I love the fact that it is a celebration. It feels that way. It felt that way to be able to get in and just look at a whole year in review and celebrate individuals in the group and do some really hard hitting work. It was good to do, which it always is. And I think listening to this today as you go through it, let yourself be swept up as if you were there and what you take out of what we share today for yourself as well. There’s that sort of feeling should hopefully wash off. It does for everyone that attends the event.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
And for those of you who might need a bit of a refresher at Pravar, we’ve got four phases of coaching. We’ve got launch Leverage Lifestyle and we’ve got Legacy now. We don’t do a whole of Pravar awards, we just do an awards for the lifestyle programme and back in 2017 we made the decision to run an awards night and in particular invite our clients, lifestyle clients, partners as well. And that’s an even more special moment for this event as well because when we run our four Mastermind, our lifestyle mastermind events per year, three of them are purely just for clients, the guys in the coaching programme, but it’s that one special event where clients bring their partners and it’s a business trip where they bring their partner to meet the other partners and it’s a great opportunity for the partners to see and experience what coaching’s all about, get to feel what Pravar is all about and just immerse themselves and the whole different elements of the event and just have a big celebration. And we love the partners being there, don’t we?
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Yeah, we do. It’s great to let them experience some of what goes on and also get the feeling and the vibes that they wouldn’t necessarily get just being at home or in the background in what coaching is and what their husbands and partners are going through from week to week. There’s so much that they do see, but there’s a hell of a lot they don’t. But to be able to be in the room and sharing some of the victories and what’s been achieved over the years, you sort of see the look on their faces and the appreciation for the work that goes in. It makes it really special.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Especially when we do the awards night and share the stories and go into detail around where clients have come from and what they’ve achieved. It’s a real eyeopener for a lot of them, isn’t it?
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Yeah, definitely. It definitely is. So why don’t we start to set the scene of where we went and we’ve talked a little bit about when it was and all those sort of things, but where we went this year it was pretty amazing place.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
It was we went to Hamilton Island and it’s just a really special place to be able to run an awards night, very fitting for an awards night. It’s good for us southerners for you and I absolutely from Melbourne where we’re almost escaping the winter, but it’s just a great place to be able to get our clients from all around Australia in our mastermind. We’ve just got 60 odd, 60 odd businesses in the programme and they’re all from all around Australia, so I was really great for clients to all fly in congregate in Hamilton Island. We sneak in just before yacht week at Hamilton Island, so the island’s looking beautiful. It’s warmish for a winter and it’s just a luxurious location to be able to run an epic events place.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Yeah, it is. It’s a bit of a blessing and a curse. Everyone comes in and all of a sudden they’re in sort of holiday mode with thongs and t-shirts and all that sort of stuff on and it’s like, hang on guys. We do still have a little bit of work to do, but as far as views and the ability to play off the scenery and all that sort of stuff, it was really, really cool. What about then the theme for the event? Let’s sort of dive in a little bit deeper now. Theme of the event. We always run a theme no different to this one. Obviously there’s a big component of celebration and that goes on and the awards dinner itself, which is you and Jackie always talk about it being organising a wedding which you get to do every year, but there’s the awards dinner, but also the theme of the event that we run for the guys in the classroom.
Speaker 1 (05:05):
Within our lifestyle mastermind, we run eight themes over a two year period. We run a cycle of eight different themes and that means clients don’t hear the same content twice over a two year period, which I really love.
(05:22):
It just shows the depth of the programme that we’ve got in that programme and in particular this one that we run is all around sales and pipeline development and management. It’s really fitting, I love running this theme at this time of the year every second year for clients because it sets clients up for a really strong end to the calendar year from a sales point of view, but considering what’s going on at the market at the moment, sales training is a really important thing that we’ve got to be coaching our clients through in terms of business development and account management really being a sales leg organisation, but it’s also fitting because the work that clients do in this quarter, this is the grand final quarter. The work you do now is setting you up to finish the year strong but start the start of the calendar year even stronger. And so it’s timely that we run this theme and that’s why I love it so much.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Yeah, it’s also special I think because we bring in some external people to do it too, so it’s a different feel from that perspective. There’s something that’s a bit different from you and I doing sessions all through the event. We get someone else in to do it and share something a little bit deeper and a little bit more specialised if you like, in terms of tactical stuff to get guys up to speed and you think about every two years how much the tactics change within the market, especially within selling, being on top of that and making sure what is still important versus what’s just a fad is a really good thing that comes out of it I think.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Yeah, I think as a coaching organisation we know what we’re very good at, but we also understand that we can’t be experts in everything and that’s why it’s important for various topics in the areas that you and I aren’t strong in is that we do bring in experts on various different topics. We can still coach through marketing and sales, but some specific areas even outside of those topics, we’ve got to be able to ensure that we bring in the right experts, whether it’s business related, family related, or mindset related. We’ve got to be able to bring in those experts of trusted advisors that we know and trust to be able to coach our clients to be able to impart their skill sets. It’s really important for us.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Yeah, definitely. So let’s go into it. We started off obviously with the mastermind session, which is a really important thing. We don’t just jump in and go, here’s a whole bunch of information guys and just turn on the fire hydrant. That happens a little bit later on. But we start off with our mastermind session, you want to break down at a high level what that is.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
It’s broken down into two parts and we always start an event celebrating our wins. And it’s so important because we start on a really positive note. That’s number one. We always start on a good vibe, guys come in and celebrate their wins. But what it does is it goes a long way to be able to celebrating your wins helps you build your self-belief, it builds your self confidence, it shows you how far you’ve come. It enables you to be able to be in a room of like-minded people where you’ve got the ability to be able to go, Hey guys, I’ve achieved this epic thing. And you have that trust of your peers where you can somewhat gloat a little bit. We encourage it because a lot of business owners don’t have those networks around them to be able to share with their friends or family and talk about all the good things that are going on their world. So that session and on the first part of the first day is so important where clients can go, you know what, these are the epic things that I’ve done and I’m really proud of what I’ve achieved.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
And this one was special because it’s the full year review. We sort of use that end of financial year as a bit of a 12 month review cycle. So it’s the whole what you set out to do in the year and the things you’ve shared with the group itself. It’s a pretty tight knit group and there’s been a hell of a lot of ups and downs and to really take stock of that, and I think one of the guys said it in the room, just the ability to talk openly, honestly, and feel the that I had rather than trying to just say, yeah, it was okay and play them down, which you do so often in life. You’ve got to play down these things for fear of tall poppy syndrome or whatever you want to call it. I think to really get those celebrations out there and really enjoy the moment for what it was with a group of guys that were genuinely happy for you. It’s a pretty special time.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Yeah, it’s rare. Sometimes you’ve got a sense of what you say, whether that’s the challenges you’re going through or the good times you’re going through because a lot of people first and foremost don’t celebrate their wins, which is not good at all. But a lot of people then sense of what they do say they don’t want to feel like they’re gloating or big dogging or whatever it is because worried about what people will say and think about ’em. But if you made a shit load of profit, say it. Like if you’ve had some massive improvements in your health, your wellbeing, your family connections or whatever it is, tell the guys and be proud of what you’ve done. So some guys have really good business results, other guys have really good personal wins, other guys have a combination of both, but it’s just a really good opportunity just to share the wins and the progression that these guys have had in the last 12 months.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
And then we move on from that. Once we’ve done our celebrations and it’s all great, we go to the next thing which is our commitments to improvement. So what’s the one thing or one error we want to improve in? And again, I think that’s pretty special in terms of being able to make a public declaration of something that means a lot to you and having the support locked in the ability to get held accountable for what you’re doing every week or whatever’s agreed to within the mini masterminds that get set up. But explain that to the people listening.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
Our recipe for success at Pravar isn’t just hardnosed business coaching. It’s we coach the individual in through personal and leadership growth as much as we do in business growth as well. And so coaching is somewhat a blend of business and life coaching. And the thing that underpins the success that our clients have is the personal transformation they achieve through the improvement of their personal success habits. And so over a period of time, clients are transforming their life across different legacies around health, wealth, business and connections. Not that we’re experts in health or family experts or relationship experts or whatever it is, but what we do is we create an environment and we put a huge emphasis on habit improvement and that’s why our clients have such transformational results across business and life, which are off the back of these improvement sessions we run every quarter. So they’re so special and it’s just an opportunity for clients to improve the way they show up as a husband, as a father, a partner, and just as a bloke in general.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
No, I love it. Really good. So really powerful sessions there that kicked us off, which was amazing. Then it was time to get into the classroom and start turning on the, turning on the fire hydrant. From there we do two parts is usually the strategic themed version of the content and then also our mindset programme, which also runs over a two year period as well.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Yeah, this event, we ran one on identity in the hero’s journey and you ran a great topic there with guys. Really, really loved it. It was a really good opportunity for guys to understand more around identity and who they are and what makes them tick and who they are at their core. It’s a deep conversation, but it’s very powerful, isn’t it?
Speaker 2 (12:43):
Yeah, it is. I think it sets guys up in the sense of on this business journey, on this personal journey, the coaching that they’re going to do. It can be pretty scary because confronted with a lot of stuff, that’s our job to take guys all the way to the edge of their comfort zone and hopefully extend that. But in doing that, it gets pretty, it’s pretty uncertain which way it’s going to go and what happens. So I think the ability to have a journey mapped out that says, well, you can anticipate this happening. It is going to be hard. You are going to be challenged. And even some of the challenges you think you’re having now are nothing compared to what’s coming up and giving the guys the idea that there is this cycle that goes on and we use Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey and the Monomyth and all that sort of stuff that we sort of base it on, but to be able to give them that sense of a journey and let them know that at the end of the day it will be okay, but you’re going to have to go through this.
(13:31):
Everyone does. It’s a pretty powerful starting point and coming back to that every couple of years, it’s always good to see the guys hearing it for the first time and then the guys that are hearing it again after hearing it for the first time, but hearing it differently.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
It is because we’ve got to understand that there’s going to be growth, there’s going to be expansions, there’s going to be challenge, there’s going to be problems. Those things are guaranteed in your journey in business and life and hoping for a business and life without them is a fantasy. And so we have to understand that those things are inevitable, but what we’ve got to be able to do is equip ourselves as leaders to be able to understand well who am I? What drives me and how can I navigate these cycles of growth? Because we always say in coaching that your business will never outgrow your identity and that means it’ll never outgrow who you are and where you are in this moment in your journey. You can’t run a three or five or 8 million business if you don’t think and act and operate and have the mindset of a three to five to 8 million business owner. And so having your identity evolve over time so that your journey, your personal journey is growing faster than your business journey is critical to long-term sustainable success.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Yeah, well said. The second part of this, we sort of got to the end of this session. We changed tack a little bit from what we’d normally do. We had the very special situation of being able to put you on the hot seat, which I won’t go into detail, but you did wriggle out of a couple of years ago, let’s be honest. But we got you on the hot seat and it was two parts to that. I think one we haven’t mentioned it yet I don’t think on this episode, but it was a very special moment milestone for Pravar Group and then also to be able to share your version of the Hero’s Journey, what you’ve been through over that period of time. So do you want to talk a little bit? I’m interested to hear from your perspective how you felt about it and what we actually did.
Speaker 1 (15:32):
This awards event was not just special for clients, it was really special for us, as you said, it was, we celebrated 15 years, 15 years ago. This vision and mission that we live and breathe was born and it was a very special moment just to celebrate 15 years of coaching. It was huge. And that session in the afternoon was just a great opportunity to talk through the highs, the lows, the good times, the challenging times, and everything in between over the last 15 years and the different path that we’ve been on in a business. And there’s one thing that I set out to do was just inspire our clients to show them that we go through the same stuff as they do and just be that beacon of inspiration for clients who are on their journey. And yeah, it was a really special moment to be able to share our part and be that moment of inspiration for the guys.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Definitely. I’ve got a follow-up question for you. I know I interviewed you on the day, but in terms of when you heard, one of our clients actually said that it was great because they sort of got to view you as a human being. Along those lines, what was going through your mind when you heard that you could take that so many different ways? Obviously you’ll take the positive out of it, but how did you feel when they actually said that and was there any element of surprise in terms of hearing that sort of feedback straight away?
Speaker 1 (16:51):
Yeah, a bit of context around that. I shared some warts and all stories and stuff that we know internally in Pravar, but the clients don’t know and the market doesn’t know of the challenges that we’ve been through. I think the perception was is that well, Rob and Dan run this business and they’ve got all their shit together and they never experienced any challenges and business and life is just easy for them, but it’s not, business is fucking hard. And we’ve been through every same problem that every one of our clients have been through and that’s what I love the most about what we do at Pravar is we’re not just teaching theory, it’s practical. We’ve been there, we’ve done it, we’ve lived it and we’ve breeded it and just to be able to share those stories and clients are like, oh Rob, you’re human. And I’m like, yeah mate, I’ve been through the ringer and I still go through the ringer all the time. It’s just that I just don’t say it. I just leave some elements out. So yeah, it’s pretty funny to hear.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
It was really cool. It was a great session. So I think for everyone that was in the room, it was fantastic. So maybe there might be some snippets on social in due course, we’ll see how that goes. But it was good to get that through The next day we came back, so that was pretty much day one end of that. We came back the next day and we brought to the stage John Blake who did the sales training. Really good stuff for the guys. As we said, we got to step out, let someone in to do what they do really well and John knocked it out of the park on for pretty much the whole day session.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Yeah, it’s huge. He kicked off the morning around how to be a sales led organisation and I really like that because I think so many trades businesses have rested on their laurels over the last few years. It’s been really easy for them to win work and they’ve almost been order takers, not order creators. And ever since the market has tightened, everyone’s now going, oh shoot, now we’ve got to actually sell. And so I think having that mindset session in the morning was really important just to be able to go, guys, we’ve got to be a sales led organisation. It was a nice reminder for the clients and then we went in and spoke around how to write and present fee proposals that work and how to win work despite being higher on price and how to do business development effectively to be able to expand our current customer base into new markets. So really topical points and strategies and mindsets that are relevant to what’s going on in the market. But let’s face it, it is a consumer confidence is down, people are not spending as much and it’s harder to convert work. And so I think just equipping our clients with the right mindset, the right strategies and the right solutions to continue to dominate in their marketplace was a critical day of sales training for them.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
Absolutely. And as you said at the top, the idea of using this as the time to do it to build out really strong in terms of pipelines for the back half of the year, keep that momentum rolling into the first half of next year and almost it’s the perfect time to do it from a review or brush up a strategic setting sort of point of view for your sales pipeline. It was spot on.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
Alright, so then John was done, guys, the fire hydrant got turned off for a little while then, which was good in terms of the content and information and we turned our attention then to the big main event or the marquee event, let’s call it, of the awards dinner. So really, really special night as you said, it was not just the awards for our clients, which we’ll go through in a minute, but also the celebration as well of the 15 years was still a part of that theme as we did. It had a really special feel about the whole night. I think across the board
Speaker 1 (20:29):
It was, I want you to picture a big pavilion right on the beach there at Hamilton Island, right at Cat Eye Beach there, grassy area out on front overlooking the beach and all through over the ocean there in the Whit Sundas, it was a great opportunity for clients to bring their partners. We had just over a hundred people there inside the pavilion was a stage, a big screen on the back. It was the blue and the purple lights of which is our signature Pravar event. Lights. The music was playing, there was a dozen tables with name cards and seating plans and everything all set up is like a proper awards night, like a wedding, like a big venue, just beautifully set up. And it was just a really special feel where clients came down the stairs past the pool onto the grassy area, the festoon lighting was there right on sunset overlooking drinks and canopies and it was just a really special moment for clients to come in, bring their partners all dressed up in suits and dyes or bow ties and cocktail dress. And it was just a really special moment to kick off an awards night, big group photo and off we went and just cracked on with the night. It was really special.
Speaker 2 (21:48):
We did. So it was awesome. I love the fact that everyone was dressed up, everyone looks the part, everyone has that feeling of this is a special event going in. So that was a big tick. And then we got into the event itself and we started to give out some awards. I thought for this episode, let’s just break down our award winners and maybe a lot of these guys have featured on the podcast. So what I thought we’d do as well is mention the episodes that you can go back and listen to their journeys as we explain the awards and how this all sort of fell on the night. So if you’re up for that, we can start with our first award, which is the community award.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Community. As we’ve said a lot of times on this podcast, community is a huge element to coaching at Pravar. There’s a community element of every programme and this community award is to celebrate that one person who has had a huge impact on developing and being the custodian of the culture and the community that we’ve developed in the lifestyle programme. And that award went to Adrian Kowal from Kowelec Electrical and very deserving for that award. He plays such a huge part in everything he does here in Pravar. He’s been on the podcast here, which was episode 46. He’s featured, he helps out at our launch day. He’s gone and spoken back and mentored some of the launch guys. He is part of our lifestyle leadership programme. He’s been there for his hardest moments and he just plays a huge role in building and developing and being the custodian, the culture of what we’ve got so very deserving wasn’t he?
Speaker 2 (23:27):
He really was. And I think the experiences he had, and you talked about him getting a lot of support from the community. I think what he got out of that though, he’s paid back again into the community. He didn’t just take that support and go, that was amazing. Love the community. It was like I can actually use some of what I’ve been through and give that back into the group to help them move forward, which was awesome to see throughout the whole year and his journey. Next one was Bevan Award. So we didn’t have Michael Bevan there to present this time last time we did, which was good. But this time Bevan Award we did next, which is all about our habits and probably the consistency of effort over the course of a full year.
Speaker 1 (24:06):
You mentioned there about Michael Bevan. This award is, or our Bevan framework. And the Bevan Award is named after Michael Bevan, the one day cricketer. He built his success in his game of hitting ones and twos. It was a very consistent, reliable game. Very, very consistent batsman. And so business and life is no different. You don’t achieve great levels of success or whole of life integration across health, wealth, business and connections by something you do every now and again. It’s just by the consistent repetition of habits over and over and over again, again, which creates the results that you get in life. And that went to Mitch Copp from Copper Electrical, very deserving. He’s come through launch into leverage, into lifestyle. And just where he’s come from in the last number of years of coaching to where he is today has just been an incredible journey through the redefine of who he is and the habits that he’s built over that period of time.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
He is. And the number one principle, the very first one we teach people is one thing at a time over time. And Mitch has absolutely done that. He just keeps stacking one thing after one thing after one thing. And over time that adds up to a hell of a lot. And it’s not just how much it adds up to, but I think how solid it is. I mean you look at his leadership, his demeanour, his confidence, all of that’s been worked on through habits, but it’s rock solid now. It doesn’t just show up in moments. It doesn’t matter what’s going on, Mitch is there rock solid in every moment, which is great to see.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
And it’s not just in one area of life, it’s across the board. Through his time in coaching, he’s had about 300% increase in rev nps followed a very healthy trajectory along the way as well. He’s gone from him wearing all the hats to having an operational team around him, fully off the tools. He’s the healthiest he’s ever been. He’s showing up as the best husband and father that he’s ever been. He’s getting his business dialled in. The things that he’s done giving back to the industry and the position he’s put himself in the marketplace and he’s wealth creation journey. He’s being able to dominate across all areas of life, not just one or two areas in that moment.
Speaker 2 (26:20):
Yeah, absolutely. So Mitch, if you’re interested in going back and hearing some of that story in detail, episode 65 for that one. So Mitch is that one. So next we are on to transformation. I love the transformation award. It sounds sometimes like it’s a little bit of a flash in the pan of who’s changed the most in that moment, but when we talk transformation, it’s a little bit different. I think our award winner this year exemplifies the fact that it’s more than just what you can do once or twice to say, Hey, I’m capable of transforming. They’ve actually been through a full journey.
Speaker 1 (26:53):
This year, went to Frank Virtu from RFV Property Services and he has transformed. He is a transformed man and he’s someone who has transformed across all areas of life. Came into coaching doing just under a hundred K months. He’s now doing up over 300 grand months. It was him and a couple of people around him working from his kitchen table, no operational support or anything, working 60 to 80 hours a week, unhealthy, massive toll on his relationship to now full operational structure. He does it in a 30 hour week. He is up over 300 K months. He’s the healthiest he’s ever been. He’s kicked the cigarettes, he’s now doesn’t drink, he eats well, he trains well, he shows up and his amazing husband, a really present father to his kids and recently took six weeks off uninterrupted for their 10 year wedding anniversary. And so for someone who’s gone from being a broken, burnt out business owner to someone who is a fully transformed businessman and husband and father was just an incredible journey.
Speaker 2 (28:07):
It really was. And Frank was on episode 43. I mean that’s halfway almost to this episode if you like, in terms of we’ve been, I think going back and listening to that, he’s transformed since then. You really see it. He was already on that journey, well on his way and doing a lot of stuff then, but now it’s just dialled in. He is like clockwork in terms of who he is now. It’s not if it’s not a when he feels like it’s all the time so well and truly transformed. So love that and love some of the comments that came through on the night at that moment. It was pretty special and emotional when he did take that award, which was cool. Next one was Breakthrough Award. We’ve got two to go. So the next one was breakthrough award and breakthrough. We are talking now more about the business side. We we’re sort of moving from the personal transformations into the business side and the levers that get pulled to really breakthrough on that front still incorporates a lot of personal stuff, but really a business breakthrough.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
And this went to Grant Hateley from Hateley Construct and Grant’s been a client in coaching for a couple of years now over this time he is done some amazing things. But what I really admire about his story, he had a mindset breakthrough, a leadership breakthrough and a business breakthrough over the last 12 months. And 12 months ago he is put his stake in the ground and said, this is going to be my year and I’m going to commit. I’m going all in and this is going to be my year and I’m going to absolutely dominate. And as a builder, it’s been a hard year for builders and this guy’s in Northern Victoria in a regional area. And the results that he’s got in the last 12 months has just been incredible. It’s multiple seven figure construction business and a very, very healthy np. His turnaround from last year has been incredible, but just the way that he’s grown as a leader, the mindset shifts that he’s had, the way that he’s being able to position himself in the market through just really charging what he’s worth and understanding his numbers and the management of jobs and margin and the way that he’s been able to lead and dial in that business over the last 12 months has been incredible. So it was no surprise that he got that award.
Speaker 2 (30:22):
Yeah, no, it was pretty clear. It was hard fought, but in the end he was that head and shoulders clearly above. So it was an amazing year that he put together no episode for him just yet. It’s one to wait for. It is going to come, but you’ll have to wait a little bit longer to hear the full grant story.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
We’re coming after you Mr. Hateley. We’ll see you soon.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
That’s right. He’s just been voluntold. So we’ll deal with that later on. Excellence Award, the big award for the night, the one that encompasses all of this I think, and it’s not just for the year, but a body of work, a body of time, and someone who’s done something pretty extraordinary at extreme levels across the board. So this year talk us through Excellence Award winner.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
Excellence is one of our values here at Pravar and Excellence almost embodies all the other awards it touches on the community and Bevan and Transformation Breakthrough and it’s the most prestigious award that we give out on the night. And that went to Gerard Ryan from Rycon Constructions based out of Southeast Queensland. So two builders took out the two big awards for the year and Gerard Ryan, he has just achieved incredible results over the last number of years of coaching from where he’s come from. He was renowned for the high-end residential market a couple of years ago, repositioned himself into commercial design and construct and that’s now 70% of his revenue and the size of his business would blow many people’s mind. And the profitability and the way that he’s got that dialled in would he does more in profit that most people achieve in revenue in a year. And it’s not up for us to say that on this podcast, but he has just had an incredible number of years and he’s just the epitome of excellence.
Speaker 2 (32:23):
He really is. I remember having a conversation one of our dinners at another event in Sydney probably 12 months ago, not the one we just had, but before that. And he was really determined to get that last part out of the coaching journey that he felt he had, which was leadership. It was how he was showing up at home. It was that last 2% that he had to really dial in that he was so committed to doing and to watch the way he’s gone about that and really make sure he did everything at that excellent level. It was already pretty good, let’s face it. But for him it wasn’t excellent yet. And to see him double down on that this year and follow through and what that 2% represented in terms of the year that he was able to put together as a business was just absolutely phenomenal and so unassuming as well. He’s not loud, he’s not sort of, he doesn’t bulldoze his way through the market. He just delivers consistently, which is awesome to see.
Speaker 1 (33:18):
He’s probably one of the older guys within the mastermind, but he’s very respected.
(33:25):
Recently he won the President’s award for the Queensland Master Builders and Grant also won recently awards in Victorian Master Builders. And so we’re starting to see here that the best get coaching and we coach the best. And I think that’s what’s really evident here that these guys, they’re becoming the best we coach them. But there’s no mistake why like Gerard Ryan, you run the President’s Award for master builders. He does exceptional work on the construction front, but he runs an exceptional business and he’s an exceptional leader as well as a great husband, great father, just all around great bloke. And as you said, he’s a quiet achiever, but when he speaks, people listen. And that’s what I love about him.
Speaker 2 (34:11):
Yeah, I love what you said there. I think the guys that we coach, it’s easy to forget because we live in this world, but these are the top, top, top 1% of everyone almost on any measure you want. If we were to put any one of these guys in a normal room, the award would be just, it would be a hands down, easiest award in the world to give. But when you get a room full of people operating at that level, I mean yes, Gerard was amazing and Grant and Frank and Mitch and Adrian, but there wasn’t too many. There was always just a small gap to a whole group of guys that are almost at the exact same level you’ve got to be. These aren’t just awards that guys stand out and it’s like, who do we give it to? Or that guy? We’ve got to really think about this because we’re dealing with the best of the best. Correct.
Speaker 1 (34:49):
And there’s a lot of robust conversations and a bit of archy bargy backwards and forwards. And we do give honourable mentions out, but it’s hard to split them, especially when we do coach the best of the best, which is awesome.
Speaker 2 (35:00):
Yeah, it is. It’s really cool. We also have a theme for the night. There’s some words that we, I’ll say we throw them around, but we don’t throw them around willy nilly. They’re very deliberate and they mean a lot to the group. And what we set out to do this year, our three words were courage, resilience, and leadership. And we gave a special shout out or you told a story on the night about each person. So some of those were featured on episodes, so we want to make sure we cover those guys off as well. Do you want to run through those for us?
Speaker 1 (35:26):
The nod to courage was Zach Hansen, I just admire his courage for the way that he’s stepped up, look inwards and rebuilding who he is and what he does and the way that he’s showing up as a man and not just in business and life. And so he was episode 26 and I just love that guy. He’s on a wild journey to rediscover who he is and what he wants to do in his life and what he’s achieving for such a young guy is impressive. So he was our courage. Shout out. We gave the resilience shout out to Glen Fludder from Stilus Design and Construct. And that’s more just the personal stuff that he’s had to go through, but the way that he’s shown up as a husband and a father and just been there for his whole family in probably some really tough personal times, a lot of loss and a lot of grief that him and his family have experienced. But the way that he’s continued to show up and support not only his family but just keep showing up in the mastermind has been incredible. So he was our resilience, shout out. And then leadership was Andrew Debono from Debono Construction. He was on episode 69. And the way that Andrew has just developed his leadership over the last number of years has been incredible. And he was a worthy mention for the growth in his leadership in business. It’s been really inspiring.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
For sure. Those guys did a great job and their stories were quite profound. Glen, you’re also on our list if you’re listening. So expect a call with Grant around when we’re going to get you to tell a story. So we’ll deal with that one later on. Dinner awards night. Done. Let’s talk quickly about the special surprise at the end of the night. So we’ve gone through all the awards. People are on an absolute high, so they’re coming back to the room. Everyone’s now celebrated the hell out of these award winners. The other stories, the mentions, guys talking openly and honestly about what it means for their mates to be able to get an award and how that’s touched them, getting goosebumps as we talk about it. But then we had a big surprise at the end of the night.
Speaker 1 (37:27):
We did. No one knew about it and it was you, me and Jacqui. And Jacqui’s my wife, but she’s also our events manager and she does a cracking job at running our events and not even the coaches knew or anything. And at the end of the night, and I just said to one everyone up in the mic, I’m like, all right, get up and I want you to picture you’re still standing in the room and I’m there saying, right, everyone up and outside, let’s go. And we did. Everyone just went, okay, grabbed their drinks and out they went and it was pitch black and it started to rain at this point and it was freezing cold and everyone was standing out there. And then Thunderstruck started and we cranked up the tunes and Thunderstruck was going on in the background and then boom, boom, boom and the fireworks started and it was just a special nod to our 15 years just to celebrate with Thunderstruck cranking away in the background and everyone’s standing there having a drink and just watching the fireworks up over the point. It was something beautiful. That was for sure.
Speaker 2 (38:31):
Yeah, it was epic. It was so cool. I found myself in that moment just sort of sitting there, taking it all in for what it meant, what led up to it, all the stuff that we’d talked about at the event, you and I on stage doing the interview with you. And I suppose just taking that moment in and sort of locking it into that moment of fireworks was really, really powerful. I found. I thought it was great.
Speaker 1 (38:50):
I got a really cool photo where they took a photo from behind and I was giving Jacqui my wife a nice big cuddle and I’m looking at her and there’s this big bit of fireworks in front of us and I’m just looking at her proud as punch because we do some amazing work and are really proud of each other and what we’ve built and we wouldn’t be able to do it without the awesome team that we’ve got and the awesome work that you do. And yeah, that photo for me, it just captures everything. It’s just a nice moment in time to celebrate what we’ve done in the last 15 years.
Speaker 2 (39:22):
Yeah, it sure was. It was fantastic. We then had a couple of other surprises that I did know about that you didn’t know about, but anyway, a couple little gifts for you and Jac. So it was great to get to Ellen Thompson to get up and give you guys a little bit of a shout out on behalf of the client group and a couple of little nice little for you guys, which was good.
Speaker 1 (39:41):
Yeah, I’m doing a Kakoda Trek in next year, so it was nice to get few little gifts for that. Jac got a little couple of gifts gift for her and I’ve got a few little things for my trek coming up. So yeah, they’ll get to put to good use and yeah, I’m really grateful. I didn’t expect it, but it was great to be able to get them from gifts. It was a very special moment.
Speaker 2 (40:00):
Yeah, very cool. I love it. Alright, so that was pretty much our awards night. If it sounds like it was a big night, it was huge. We had a great time. Everyone left absolutely with what we call cups full in terms of just the connection with each other and the business. And I think it was a great night and then it was up early the next morning knocked back into the classroom, but fun day.
Speaker 1 (40:21):
Off to the big explorer boat, the Ocean Explorer, and we were on a 7:45, so it was an early start and we all jumped on the boat and out to Whitehaven Beach we went. And for those who’ve never been to Whitehaven Beach, you see the photos, it’s one of the most beautiful beaches you’ll ever see in Australia and it’s with the swirling water, it always changes. It’s never the same every day because of the tides that move and the sands that move. And it was something really special just to jump on the boat. We all jumped up on top in the morning and had a big celebration and congratulated our awards winners and even though we were freezing going on the way out, but it was just awesome to be able to pull up in a little cove area and jump out and go for a snorkel and see one of the wonders of the world, which is the Great Barrier Reef and just spend some great time as a community just celebrating, hanging out as mates, telling good stories and having good yarns. And it was just a really special day.
Speaker 2 (41:23):
It really was. I loved it. I thought the snorkelling was amazing. The walk we did as a group when we got there, we walked up to the top, I dunno what that place is called, but we went up there and ate some green ants and had a good chat and just took it all in and everyone was just pumped to be there, which was cool. We had a great game of beach cricket as a group, which was fun. And we just hung out and just sort of enjoyed each other’s company and just sort of sat back and went, geez, it was a pretty special year that we put together and it was just a great day. It really, really was. And then we all got together at the end of that and had farewell drinks.
Speaker 1 (41:55):
Yeah, it was good to get back. And partners met us back on the island at Hamilton Island. Is this nice to cruise on the way back we saw whales on the way back and is this good for the boys to be able to hang out and tell stories up on top of the boat again and just came back and pulled up at the dock and all piled off and went back and had a few farewell drinks and that was a wrap and it was just a great way to finish with partners and just put a bow around what has been an epic special event for everyone involved.
Speaker 2 (42:22):
Yeah, for sure. So that was it. So hopefully you’ve enjoyed that little walkthrough, what was three days and 15 years in the making, but hopefully we got that across Well to you if you were listening to that and you get a sense of what the momentum that comes out of it. I think Rob is something that’s hard to describe and I don’t think we can do it on the podcast, but for me it’s that momentum that takes guys through to the next event. It takes them into their coaching, it sets them up, the confidence that they get from having a group around them with support, all of that is baked into these events every quarter. It’s not just what we do, but it’s the meaning behind it that gives it all the momentum and drive that we get to feast on if you like, in coaching for the next sort of three months.
Speaker 1 (43:03):
It is. And these events that we run in person are really special. I know a lot of coaching organisations when COVID was around, everyone went online and then everyone stayed online after coach after COVID, but we got back to in person as quick as we could because these events are the glue that holds our community together. It’s where guys get real and raw. It’s an environment where you can have unfiltered, honest conversations around the good, the bad, and the ugly in your world. And these in-person events are just special. It’s just so good for our clients to get together, just hang out, just celebrate the good times and especially these awards events for our lifestyle mastermind. It’s just a really important element of what makes this programme so special.
Speaker 2 (43:49):
Yeah, absolutely. So I suppose all that’s left now is to say that if you want to join in and if you want to be a part of this, where do you start your journey and how do guys get in touch?
Speaker 1 (43:59):
Yeah, jump across to strategysession.com.au book in a time that suits you and let’s have a bit of a yarn about where you’re at and where you’re trying to go in business. And we can talk you through how our journey goes from launch into leverage and then eventually into lifestyle. And we can talk through your journey and how we can help you improve your business and life. So if that sounds like it’s something of interest to you, jump across to strategy session.com au and book in a time and let’s take it from there.
Speaker 2 (44:25):
Excellent. I love it. And if you need to go back and re-listen to this episode for those episode numbers with the award winners, some amazing stories and you’ll see why they were well and truly on their way to winning those awards probably back when we interviewed them all that time ago.
Speaker 1 (44:38):
Yeah, absolutely. I think they are success leaves clues and we spoke as much as we could in this shorter episode, but there’s so many golden nuggets you can hear from all of those stories we’ve shared in the past.
Speaker 2 (44:49):
Definitely. Alright, well we hope you’ve enjoyed this episode and we will see you on the next one.
Speaker 1 (44:55):
Take care.