EO Melbourne kickstarts the year 2023 with The Masterplan

A great way to kickstart the year was to set one’s goals for a productive year ahead. EO Melbourne recently invited the dynamic duo of Master Life Strategist and Coach Shannah Kennedy and Leadership Coach Colleen Callander for a powerful presentation on The Masterplan during a breakfast event.

Shannah Kennedy is a high-performance master planner and one of Australia’s foremost strategic life coaches. She is the bestselling author of The Life Plan and global best seller Plan B. Colleen Callander is an award-winning CEO, Founder of Mentor Me, and the author of Leader By Design.

Their presentation revolved around The Masterplan – The Ultimate Self-Mastery Program on Life (Self-Awareness), Leadership (Self-Leadership) and Longevity (Self-Management). Participants walked away with a 76-page workbook covering the 18 core topics around Life, Leadership and Longevity that helped them create their Masterplan and Action plan to future-proof themselves and their businesses.

The attendees took away great learnings from the event, such as the importance of planning, focusing on one’s self, creating personal values and living by them, and improving one’s habits and daily life.

“It was such a privilege and joy to present at the first EO Melbourne networking breakfast. We met so many incredible EO members doing incredible things and were open to elevating both personally and professionally,” Colleen Callandar commented.

EO Melbourne has lined up more remarkable learning events for the remainder of FY 2022-2023. If you want to enjoy the benefits of being an EO Melbourne Member, visit our https://www.eomelbourne.org/join page.

EO Melbourne at the Australian Open 2023 Superbox Experience

with guests from EO Sydney, EO Brisbane

and EO Adelaide

With the epic return of The Australian Open this 2023, EO Melbourne once again had the opportunity to see the much-awaited sports action live and now with an incredible vantage point through the Superbox Experience.

This time, the excitement was brought a notch higher as members of EO Adelaide, EO Brisbane and EO Sydney joined EO Melbourne in this multi-chapter event. 

It was the first chapter event of EO Melbourne for 2023, a great way to welcome the new year with a bang. EO Members were able to watch the scheduled games from the 20th to the 22nd of January. EO members who are tennis enthusiasts had a comfortable super Centre Court viewing experience in the exclusive entertaining suites. 

“The event was really nice. We had incredible rooms at the games. We had great matches, great conversations, and great people there from all over Australia, and I hope we do a lot more of them,” said EO Melbourne President Damian Blumenkranc.

For the full 6 hours, these Superboxes offered members a social evening and gripping tennis experience complete with atrium access and gourmet food and beverages to enjoy. Behind the private glass, they were able to cheer for their faves to their heart’s content as well as find the opportunity to connect with other EO members. 

“It's a unique experience which I wouldn't have experienced otherwise,” one of the guests shared. An EO Melbourne member also remarked, “I simply love tennis and EO, so this was the perfect combo.”

Apart from world-class learning events and skills-specific workshops, EO Melbourne also provides its members with a venue to exchange business stories that would help them learn and grow, such as social events like the Australian Open Superbox Experience, supporting the needs of the 360° entrepreneur through community and personal experiences.

If you think you have what it takes to be an EO Member and are interested in what it offers, we invite you to our “Startup to Scaling Up” Membership Information Night on 9 February 2023, where you will be able to learn more about EO Melbourne.

EO Global travels in 2023

There are many benefits to being an EO Member and one of its many perks is being able to travel where they get to meet like-minded people from various parts of the world, who share their passion for business, leadership and entrepreneurship.

Being a global organisation with a high-quality support network of 16,500+ diverse business leaders from more than 60 countries, EO provides a lot of once-in-a-lifetime experiences for its members where they also get to explore other places and widen their knowledge. This year, there are several travel opportunities for EO Melbourne members, which both the chapter and the global network have organised.

Some of the most popular EO global travels are the EO Explorations. It kicks off this year as it returns to “the land of fire and ice” with the 2023 EO Iceland Exploration happening from 6 to 11 February 2023. In FY21/22, this Exploration sold out and it is brought back this year to allow more EOers to experience Iceland with a trip only EO can offer.

The most famous sight in Iceland attracts visitors from all over the world: the Northern Lights, a spectacular natural phenomenon. At Aurora Basecamp, guests experience a real-time indoor simulation before venturing outside with an expert guide to view the breathtaking wonder live. Even if you’ve seen them before, each time is a truly memorable experience.

Other EO Explorations lined up this year are the 2023 EO Tanzania Exploration, happening from 30 April to 5 May 2023, and the 2023 EO Mexico Exploration, which is scheduled from 26 October to 1 November 2023. 

In the EO Tanzania Exploration, guests will feel the calming strength of the Serengeti’s animals and people and relish in the warmth of Zanzibar’s waters and intoxicating way of life. After several soul-filling days in the Serengeti, they will fly a few miles off the coast of Tanzania to idyllic Zanzibar, an island oasis teeming with natural beauty, rich history and unparalleled Zanzibari hospitality. They will learn about their turbulent past, indulge in flavorful cuisine and allow the salt water to renew them.

On the other hand, the EO Mexico Exploration is an opportunity for EOers to discover the spirit of Mexico in Oaxaca and the Yucatan in a way only EOers can. This event includes a special treat: on the final night, guests will join other EOers from the LAC region to celebrate the opening night of LACademy.

Apart from the EO Explorations, there are also other EO events where members get the opportunity to fly to other countries. For one, EO is organising its first-ever Leadership Academy for Womenpreneurs. The four-day immersion programme will integrate leadership content, EO experiential learning and social time to create a transformational experience for EO’s women leaders. This powerful personal formation programme will be held in Borobudur, a UNESCO heritage site in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, from 20-23 February.

And the most-awaited global event of EO is the 26th Global Leadership Conference, this year to be held in Cape Town, South Africa from 25 to 27 April 2023. 

Year after year, men and women of EO from around the world make the choice to raise their hands and courageously take on the challenge of creation and leadership. They rally at the Global Leadership Conference (GLC) to learn, grow and think bigger than before. At the GLC, they get the opportunity to engage with fellow entrepreneurs from around the world in one place – one conversation – for the purpose of growing together.

Closer to home, EO Melbourne is taking its Chapter Retreat this year in lush Bali, Indonesia. From 21 to 24 May 2023, EO Melbourne Members and guests will come together to Unleash The New Paradigm with a new mission of self-discovery and a new perspective. Activities and speakers are lined up where they can gain new experiences and possibilities to be stimulated, inspired and armed to take the leap to their greatest potential discovery.

These are just a few global travels that EOers look forward to this year. If you’re interested on how to become an EO Melbourne Member, visit our https://www.eomelbourne.org/join page.

EO Melbourne elects FY 2023/24 Board at the AGM, plus an inspiring talk from Fable Food CEO Michael Fox

The Annual General Meeting is one of the important events in the EO Melbourne calendar. It is the time of the year when members play their role in the election of the Chapter President and Board for the next financial year. 

Recently, the chapter has gathered and elected its Board for the FY 2023/24, ratified by the current Board. The following are the newly elected officials, who will start their term in July 2023:

President: James Murray

President-Elect, Communications Chair and Finance Chair: Costa Vasili

Strategic Alliance Chair: Damian Blumenkranc

Mentorship Chair and Key Executive Chair: Tom Ormerod

Accelerator Chair: Anthony Lam

Membership Chair: Kate Save

Membership Co-Chair: Jeni Clift

Membership Engagement Chair: Rob Roy Rankin

Learning Chair: David Fastuca

Forum Chair: John Bevitt

Forum Co-Chair: Ben Beattie

During the AGM, Michael Fox, CEO and Co-Founder at Fable Food Co, gave a talk about the lessons he learned from the failure of his first business, Shoes of Prey, and how he has brought those lessons to Fable Food.

“Failure isn't fatal, but failure to change might be" are the famous words of known basketball coach John Wooden, to which Michael also subscribes.

His experience with Shoes of Prey was something he and his co-founders described as "the kiss of death," "one of the most horrific days of their lives," and "learning the hard way" as they witnessed the collapse of their business, which led to losing $35 million of investments and laying off over 200 people after 10 years of hard work.

The experience left Michael "physically ill" to go back to the entrepreneurial track. Still, starting a new business he eventually did, and Fable Food Co was born.

Taking in both the highs and the lows of his Shoes of Prey start-up journey, Michael shared his experiences of expanding a business, not being able to scale to the mass market, and personally applying the lessons learned to his new enterprise, Fable Food, making it right this time, and building his latest venture into a successful business.

What also made Fable Food successful is Michael’s personal commitment to the company’s purpose. Growing up as a meat-loving Queenslander, he became a vegetarian in 2015 and is now vegan for health, environmental and ethical reasons. He co-founded Fable Food to help people reduce their meat consumption.

EO Melbourne Members found Michael’s entrepreneurial journey a fantastic story with great learnings and key takeaways, such as:

• Do your research on your product fit carefully and thoroughly

• Cut deep when you need to reduce expenses

• Be careful who you take investment from, look for smart money

There will always be challenges in every business and failures are inevitable. But what’s important is how to bounce back and turn things around to make them in your favour. 

With these lessons from Michael Fox’s talk and the promise that the new Board can bring to the table, we look forward to a more exciting journey for EO Melbourne in the upcoming FY 2023/24 and the years ahead.

A look into EO Melbourne’s first half of FY 2022-2023

See what’s in store for the rest of the year

The calendar year 2022 has come to a close and we welcome the New Year 2023 with a positive outlook. For many, this is the time to look at the past year and learn from it in order to work towards a better year ahead. For several businesses and organisations, such as EO Melbourne, this marks the first half of the financial year 2022-2023, a perfect time to step up the momentum for the next six months.

The EO Melbourne Board for FY 2022-2023 has worked hard to come up with a packed Q1 and Q2 that would cater to the 360-degree needs of its member entrepreneurs. It has invited top-notch speakers and workshop facilitators who shared their inspiring stories and practical insights, which are valuable to those traversing their respective entrepreneurial journeys.

Among the notable guests that EO Melbourne had for the past six months was Jack Daly, who conducted his "The Proven Path to Hyper Sales Growth While Living a Life By Design" workshop. Other workshops that the chapter organised were the "Never Fly Economy Again" Virtual 'Point Hacks' Workshop with iFLYflat Founder and CEO Steve Hui and the "Get Your Business Out of Your Brain" Virtual Trainual workshop with Trainual Founder and CEO Chris Ronzio.

EO Melbourne also had other amazing resource speakers, such as the advisor to the advisors, Craig Ferguson who gave an insight on the Australian economy and where it is heading; Al Qaeda's longest-held prisoner and now International Speaker & Best Selling Author Steve McGown who talked about survival, the importance of making important decisions, acceptance and communication, and the concept that Freedom is an attitude; and Fable Food Co CEO and Co-Founder Michael Fox who shared the lessons he learned from the collapse of his business, Shoes of Prey, and how he applied them to Fable Food.

Some virtual events were conducted like the Virtual Masterclass Series: Everything you need to know about Offshoring and the 'Scaling and Selling a Global Digital Agency' virtual event with Andrew Collins.

EO Melbourne Members and attendees also found great insights from events like "The Deal of a Lifetime" with EO Member Ben Trinh and the myDNA event where they learned about the personalised, DNA-powered approach to their health & wellness. The chapter also conducted two Accelerator and Key Executive Learning Days, one on “Cash” and another on “Strategy”.

But it wasn’t just all about learning and workshops as members also had some fun time connecting with fellow members during the EO Exclusive Drive Day with our Strategic Alliance Partner, MB Berwick, which included a lunch at Jackalope. The chapter capped the year 2022 with its annual Christmas Long Lunch, this time, at the lush Levantine Hill. Accelerators and Key Executives also had their Christmas Party at Perry’s Club, co-founded by EO Melbourne Member Paul Ghaie.

As the year 2023 begins, the second half of FY 2022-2023 looks even more exciting as the chapter starts with the Australian Open Superbox Experience for its members. There’s also the Australian F1 Grand Prix Experience that they can look forward to in April. The third Member Connect Dinners where members can enjoy dinner in an intimate setting of 10 people are also in the works.

Other events in the pipeline are the Masterplan Workshop: The Ultimate Self-Mastery Program on Life, Leadership and Longevity, International Women’s Day with Dr Nicole Yap and the Greg Crabtree Workshop. EO Melbourne Members, Accelerators, SLP and Key Executive Forum members can look to more exciting and invigorating events in the coming months.

Moreover, the highlight of the FY 2022-2023 is the EO Melbourne Chapter Retreat, which will be held on the beautiful island of Bali in Indonesia.

Sounds exciting? If you are interested in becoming part of EO Melbourne or have someone in mind who fits the requirements of the EO Membership: founder, co-founder, owner or controlling shareholder of a company in Melbourne and surrounding areas; and holds one of the above titles for a company that grosses more than US$1 million annually, then you or the potential guest can express your interest in attending our Membership Information Night “Startup to Scaling Up” by visiting our https://www.eomelbourne.org/event2023. 

Andrew Collins talks about Scaling and Selling a Digital Agency at the EO Melbourne event

Andrew Collins, Group CEO of Mailman, is proof that age and an unfamiliar territory are not hindrances to one’s road to success in the entrepreneurial journey. In one of EO Melbourne’s learning events, Andrew shared how he, as a young Australian entrepreneur, acquired a small business in China and transformed it into a global leader in sports media, serving the largest sports organisations in the world, including NFL, NBA, UFC, Kobe Bryant, Cristiano Ronaldo and Manchester United, to name a few.

At the age of 27, on his fifth trip to China, Andrew acquired Mailman, one of the first foreign-owned advertising agencies in this country that specialised in postcard media, for US $175,000 and then scaled it to become a leading digital agency. This was in 2007, which he considered as the survival phase of his journey leading to 2010 when he had pivoted the business to digital consulting in the sports and entertainment category. 

The huge rise of the internet and electronic media in China allowed Andrew to expand his business offerings and enabled him to streamline his services towards designing digital media campaigns for the global travel and sports organisations. Liverpool FC, the first global football team to embrace China, became Mailman’s first international client ahead of their summer tour.

By the end of 2021, with over 300 employees, Mailman was serving over 100 global sporting organizations across 54 markets. Recently, Andrew sold the company to Endeavor (NYSE: EDR) for a record sum for an Australian-founded business in China -- a great feat for a young entrepreneur! Andrew now resides in Singapore providing support as the company expands with Endeavor’s global network.

In his over a decade of living in China, Andrew became part of EO Shanghai, serving the organisation in various capacities, which is why he was delighted to be able to share his journey with fellow entrepreneurs from EO Melbourne and across the South Pacific. Attendees of this EO Melbourne virtual event learned so much from Andrew’s entrepreneurial experience, especially his hard work, passion and determination to achieve the successes he has reaped over the years. 

EO Melbourne holds quarterly Accelerator and KE Learning Days

Starting a business is no easy feat, much more than accelerating its growth in a short period of time. Though it is a challenge for many entrepreneurs to speed up their business growth, it is quite achievable, as long as they have the necessary tools and people to help catapult their businesses to greater heights.

Such is the purpose of the quarterly Learning Days that EO Melbourne offers to its members and those in its Accelerator and Key Executive Programs. The Learning Days are part of its Accelerator Program's curriculum, which catalyses first-stage entrepreneurs to propel their businesses to the next level. Materials are available for pre-work and Learning Day proper exercises.

Each Learning Day is centred on a particular topic: Strategy, People, Execution, and Cash.

Recently, EO Melbourne held its Accelerator and Key Executive Learning Day - Strategy, wherein participants learned to create sustainable top-line growth. The keys to this are knowing one’s core customer, having a clear brand promise and developing one’s BHAG® (Big Hairy Audacious Goal) for sustainable revenue growth.

Another Learning Day is coming up in January 2023, which will focus on People. It will enable participants how to become a magnet for A-players who are dedicated to results. Growth companies’ most difficult decisions involve getting the right people in the right seats. One of the big questions is: Is everyone in the company aligned, pulling their weight, and contributing as they should?

The succeeding Learning Day will be on Execution, which allows participants to develop a strategic advantage over their competitors, and on Cash, which will tack on cash acceleration strategies to fuel growth.

Participants of the recent Accelerator and Key Executive Learning Day - Strategy gave positive feedback on the learning event.

“There are great tools for overviewing strategy,” one said. “The organisational checklist was the most useful tool presented today,” a participant commented. “Strategy is, for me, the hardest thing to get started on and get right out of the four focus areas of the scaling-up process,” another remarked. Another participant added, “It gave me a new perspective on some existing thoughts.”

If you want to learn more about EO Melbourne’s Accelerator Program and how to join, you can check out our Accelerator page. On the other hand, only EO Melbourne Members can get their key executives to join the Key Executive Program. Read more about it here. 

The value of EO’s KE Program to key executives and entrepreneurs

In every business, people are essential to drive the organisation forward, reach one’s goals and allow the company to operate in the long term. This is why strengthening your 2iCs and key executives is necessary to keep your business running smoothly and steadily as well as enable it to grow and expand to new markets and horizons.

The good news is that EO Melbourne has a Key Executive Program (KEP) that enables its members to learn growth strategies from EO and execute them into their businesses with key management buy-in and participation. This program allows an EO member to have a key executive from their business take part in EO learning events and EO Accelerator learning days and become a member of a Key Executive Forum.

Through this program, EO members are able to communicate and learn jointly with their key executives as they share the unique benefits of EO with a key executive from their business. In addition, it empowers EO Members and helps them align with their key executives as EO provides them with the tools, accountability, community and support to aggressively scale and master some business best practices and become better leaders. Also, the benefits are two ways as the program serves both the entrepreneur and the key executive.

EO Melbourne Member Harry Sanders, Founder of StudioHawk, had his General Manager, Lawrence Hitches, join the chapter’s Key Executive Program. Both shared the benefits of the program, helping them in their respective professional development and their organisation’s growth. 

"I had a great experience as an EO member and got so much value out of Forum, I really wanted Lawrence to be part of that experience. Being able to talk about his 5% issues without judgment in a safe environment, share experiences, learn heaps, and events and networking helped Lawrence understand the broader business community in Learning Days and really cemented him as a leader. The business has gone through many challenges and first had seen the effect Forum has had on being able to overcome them,” Harry said.

Lawrence was enthusiastic that he has become part of EO’s KEP. "I heard great things about EO from Harry and other people about how much learning and insights you can gain from talking to like-minded business people owners and people with similar challenges ahead of them. EO provides many workshops and communities that have helped our business in hard times. Implementing EOS practices has helped restructure our org chart to be solid and more accountable. The value of the KEP program is immense and I’d recommend it to any EO member to sign up their key execs."

Another Key Executive that has joined the program is Cindy Liu, an accountant at Masseuse Massage Chairs. She shared how becoming part of the KEP has impacted her growth as a professional. "I have been in the Key Executive Program for 2 years now. I have learned so much from every interaction I have had with both the group learning days and our individual forum. To start with, it is a great opportunity for me to step out of the business to learn things from the business strategy level rather than just day-to-day operations. The importance of that is I get to experience what it feels like as a business owner seeing things from a bigger picture rather than just working within my own department. The alignment with the business owner is critical from that perspective."

At present, EO Melbourne has two forums for Key Executives. They also get to attend the quarterly Learning Days as well as other learning events that the chapter offers for those in the program. To know more about our KEP, visit https://www.eomelbourne.org/key-executive-program. Interested to join EO Melbourne? Check out our https://www.eomelbourne.org/join page. 

Steve McGown talks on “Freedom is an Attitude” at the EO Melbourne learning event

"5 years & 8 months is a long time. I believe that I'm like any other person. I’m no different. We all have problems, and we shouldn’t judge one another, as we have different coping mechanisms and breaking points. I do, however, believe that our attitude separates us and determines how we cope. Some people give up too easily."

"If they are not going to kill me then I might as well use this time to go home a better person."

- Stephen "Steve" McGown

EO Melbourne recently had Stephen McGown, Al Qaeda's longest-held prisoner and now International Speaker and Best Selling Author, as its speaker where he shared his survival story and how it can be applied to one’s entrepreneurial journey.

In 2011, Steve, then a tourist on a motorcycle, was abducted by Al Qaeda up in North Africa, Mali. He was taken beyond his will far into the Saharan desert for the following six years to be either negotiated out of captivity or executed. In 2017, he was released to return home to his family.

In this EO learning event, Steve talked about resilience and overcoming adversity amidst harsh weather conditions, a different culture, language and religion. He also discussed the value of making important decisions, the importance of acceptance and communication, and the concept that Freedom is an Attitude.

As a normal guy whose life was thrown into disarray, he has become a much sought-after speaker with his self-taught methods of adjusting, being resilient, and making the most of what life throws at us. In this session, he will inspire you and leave you questioning your own attitude and dilemmas.

His survival story can be directed to many specific areas of interest, including one's entrepreneurial journey. Living outdoors in harsh conditions meant that he had to acquire a variety of new skills including how to protect himself from the elements as well as how to communicate across language and cultural boundaries. But most of all, he learned how to stay alive; remain positive and be present when everything was stacked against him. Uncertain as to whether he would ever be released or die in the expanse of the Sahara, he made a decision to not let his situation get the better of him. He decided to rather hold onto hope and take control of his attitude. 

Hearing his story, participants found inspiration from the “amazing story shared by the speaker.” There key takeaways from Steve’s talk are the importance of the power of the mind, a positive attitude is everything, that you can control your attitude and approach in life, and resilience and a positive mindset are key and relationships can save lives.

Steve is the best-selling author of 6 years a hostage (Captured by Islamist Militants in the desert) which was nominated for Book of the Year in South Africa. He is involved in running workshops about resilience and was voted best speaker of the year at a number of EO chapter events internationally.*

*According to ICMI (https://www.icmi.com.au/stephen-mcgown/).

Women of EO ANZ connect with self, others and nature at the inaugural retreat

It’s a retreat like no other as 28 formidable, entrepreneurial South Pacific women from seven EO chapters in Australia and New Zealand, including one from the USA, gathered for four days in the inaugural retreat of the Women of EO ANZ.

Participants from various EO chapters, including those from EO Melbourne, travelled to the unique and beautiful Kuku Yalanji Country, which is the land of the Kubirriwarra people, as they held the Women of EO ANZ 2022 Retreat on 25-28 August at Silky Oaks Lodge at The Daintree, Queensland. With the theme of “Connect with Self, Others and Nature,” the retreat was for the Women of EO ANZ to take stock, re-invigorate and connect with themselves, each other and the natural environment. 

Staying true to its theme, the retreat was structured in a way that provided the participants with the time for reflection, connection, learning, feeding the soul and a sense of fun. The idea of a retreat stemmed from the Women of EO ANZ’s September meeting, where members expressed being overwhelmed with exhaustion and mental and emotional fatigue. They embraced the suggestion for a retreat as it aligned with the group’s goals of creating greater connections and encouraging retention of women members across Australia and New Zealand.

The retreat was facilitated by Kylee Stone of The Performance Co., who is a very successful and respected facilitator and personal development coach. The program consisted of a formal learning day, yarning circles to articulate and process learning, meditations and reflections to embed learning, and informal yarning circles to further explore topics of interest. Participants also enjoyed various activities, such as river drifting, lunch in the rainforest, indigenous art lesson, life story through song, and a silent disco.

“(It’s) such a pleasure to meet in such an incredible location amongst these beautiful women. We are truly privileged to have access to these life-changing experiences,” shared EO Melbourne Member and Mentorship Chair & Key Executive Chair Jeni Clift.

Other participants were also very satisfied with the whole experience. Here are some of their feedback:

“This was my first women’s event and I really get the value that this community has.”

“I’m going to tell every woman in my Chapter that she should join WoEO!”

“What a blessing to meet women from around Oz and NZ! – Loved our friends from across the ditch!!”

EO promotes diversity in its membership and encourages various interests among its members. In fact, EO has a program called MyEO that enables EO members to curate a tailor-made curriculum of groups and events. With MyEO, members get the exact experience they want and value and desire.

MyEO Women is a MyEO Premier Group dedicated to supporting the retention and recruitment of women to the Entrepreneurs’ Organization through building a collaborative, diverse and supportive member community that offers rich networking and learning opportunities for women entrepreneurs.

(Photos from Women of EO ANZ.)

EO Melbourne takes part in the APAC Bond University Executive Program

EO recently held its first-ever university-based EO Executive Education Program in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) Region and EO Melbourne members have taken part in this milestone program. It was held at Bond University in Gold Coast, Australia’s first private University and is ranked #1 in Australia for student experience.

The “Building the Forever Business Program” was an immersive five days of world-class on-campus learning that combined academic theory and entrepreneurial practice with a practical action plan to implement in one’s life and business. It culminated with each class member presenting their action plan to take away and implement.

This program was organised to build on the legacy of EO Executive Education Programs at Harvard, London Business School, and the Entrepreneurial Master's Program (EMP) at MIT. It aimed to enhance the members’ EO journey and support their transformational growth. Moreover, it was created to encourage regional connection with peers, supported by a mindset of shared experiences and group learning.

EO Melbourne Members Jeni Clift, Nick Clift, Steve Constantinou, Sam Hunt, and Costa Vasili joined other EO Members from various regional and global chapters for this Executive Education Program. The facilitators in this program were Dr Justin Craig from Bond University, Carlo Santoro from EO Melbourne and Nick Bloor from EO Brisbane.

Members of the inaugural Class of 2022 were raving about their experiences at the EO APAC Bond University Executive Programme. “Life changing.” “Transformational.” “Loved the living case studies…would have paid the money just to listen to them.” “If I had known there is ‘Nothing more practical than a good theory,’ I wouldn’t have run away from it all my life! We learnt many theories and frameworks and then witnessed how they are applied!”

This program is another milestone for EO APAC in enhancing the members’ EO journey, supporting their transformational growth and gathering like-minded leaders to connect with each other through shared experience and living up to the EO Core Value of “Thirst for Learning.”

EO Melbourne brings back Jack Daly with a hyper sales growth workshop

EO Melbourne has recently brought back one of its highest-rated speakers of all time – Jack Daly. Jack is an internationally sought-after speaker and has been called the best professional sales trainer in America because of his expertise in sales growth, sales teams, and sales culture. 

EO Melbourne has secured Jack Daly for this learning event that allowed participants to know more about how to scale their companies with "hyper sales growth" and live an exceptional "life by design". 

Dubbed "The Proven Path to Hyper Sales Growth While Living a Life By Design", the workshop included pointers on how entrepreneurs could grow their sales force by recruiting, training and developing their people. It also taught participants how to build a winning culture that differentiates them from their competitors.

According to Jack, the path to increased profitable sales includes creating a culture where people want to deliver their 100%, putting the best performers in the sales seats and having a consistent application of proven systems and processes. Winning sports teams follow just such a formula and too often, sports teams at every level are coached better than most sales teams. For Jack, who is not only a Sales Coach but also a CEO and entrepreneur, it is time for that to cease as he aims to coach businesses on the winning formula.

Those who came to the workshop have nothing but praises for Jack. “He’s possibly the best speaker I have seen since being in EO,” one said. Moreover, they found the whole session and its content very informative and valuable to their learning growth. “There are practical takeaways to implement in my business and in my life,” another remarked. 

One attendee stated, “the session was incredible as it has a very high value from a sales perspective,” while another shared, “the content was relevant, delivered well and focused on genuine things to do.”

Learning events like this are aimed at supporting the personal and professional growth of EO Melbourne members and those that join the EO programs. If you’re interested to be part of EO Melbourne, please visit https://www.eomelbourne.org/join for more details.

EO Melbourne holds more learning events for its Members

EO Melbourne Member Benjamin Trinh (left) shared his “Deal of a Lifetime” during a learning event. The event was hosted by fellow EO Melbourne Member Dean Cherny (right).

A virtual “Points Hack” workshop, a talk on a “Deal of a Lifetime”, a Learning Day on Cash, and a Trainual virtual workshop. These are just some of the recent events that EO Melbourne has organised for its Members and those in its Accelerator and Key Executive programs.

Living up to its core values of “Thirst for Learning” and “Together We Grow”, EO Melbourne continues to bring to its community thought-provoking learning events that can benefit them in their growth and development.

Never fly Economy again: A Virtual 'Points Hack' Workshop with iFLYFlat

Steve Hui, Founder and CEO of iFLYflat and also known as Australia's Points Whisperer, shared with event attendees how they could turn their company into a points-generating machine and never fly Economy again.

Business owners sit on a gold mine of opportunity to use points to fly Business Class saving between $2,500 and $5,100 per trip. The fastest way to earn millions of frequent flyer points is using credit cards to pay company expenses.

His workshop allowed the participants to learn how to earn maximum points for the lowest fees and understand the numbers behind the calculations that prove the value is worth doing, select the best business credit cards, redeem points and know which points to use per destination, and many other hacks that are helpful to entrepreneurs.

The deal of a lifetime: How Ben Trinh started, scaled and sold his business to a billion-dollar company

Benjamin Trinh, Life Ready Health Group CEO, current EO Melbourne Member, and former EO Melbourne Board Member, shared his journey from when he founded his business with only $10,000 as capital, how he grew it to over $50 million in revenue and eventually sold it to one of Australia's largest private health insurance companies — in the deal of a lifetime.

The deal resulted in 12 of his friends, early investors and key employees becoming millionaires, all the while remaining as a Director and the CEO of the business.

Ben also talked about his highs and lows, as well as mistakes and wins. He also unpacked the key principles, strategies and mindsets that go into starting something that will grow and endure.

"Get your business out of your brain" Trainual virtual workshop

Chris Ronzio, Founder and CEO of Trainual, discussed how organisations could put everything about their business in one place, making it easy to cascade all the information to their teams and get them on board faster than they can imagine.

The “Get Your Business Out of Your Brain” Trainual virtual workshop enabled attendees to learn actionable tips on how to start documenting and delegating what they do so that they have time to do more of what they love. Audience participants had the opportunity to take part in exercises and Q&A with Ronzio and walked away with the ability to start building their own playbooks with the digital companion worksheet.

These learning events imparted to EO Melbourne participants hacks, tips and key insights that could help them in growing their businesses and take advantage of opportunities around them.

EO Melbourne celebrates EOFY and Board Handover with a Gala Dinner

The 2022/23 Board.

EO Melbourne Members and their partners and guests gathered for an exciting and fun Saturday night to celebrate the End-of-Financial-Year (EOFY) and mark this new chapter with the Board Handover during the annual Gala Dinner. 

2021/22 President Socrates Capouleas (right) hands over the leadership to 2022/23 President Damian Blumenkranc (left).

The chapter thanked 2021/22 President Socrates Capouleas and the Board and then welcomed 2022/23 President Damian Blumenkranc and his Board:

President: Damian Blumekranc

Accelerator Chair: Anthony Lam

Accelerator Chair: Ashley Bent

Communications Chair: Costa Vasili

Finance Chair: James Murray

Forum Chair: Rob Roy Rankin

Forum Chair: Richard Fuessel

Learning Chair: Kate Save

Learning Co-Chair: Matthew Beesley

Member Engagement Chair: John Bevitt

Member Engagement Chair: John Liston

Membership Chair: James Murray

Membership Co-Chair: Meirav Ambar

Mentorship and Key Executive Chair: Jenifer Clift

Strategic Alliance Partnership Chair: Socrates Capouleas

Ken Matthews (2nd from right) was recognised with the President’s Award during the night.

Winners of various awards were also honoured during the evening. Hailed as the Accelerator of the Year was Mena Mikhail, Founder of Heven. The President’s Award was awarded to Ken Matthews, Managing Partner at Matthews Steer Accountants and Advisors and Board Member at Family Business Australia. The chapter named Miguel Donnenfeld, Co-Founder of Creativa Videos, as the Danny Guest Awardee for Bravery in Business.

UNA took the 1st place at the Forum Cup.

During the night, the winners of the Forum Cup were also announced. Bagging 1st place was the UNA forum, followed by MOSO in 2nd place, and Feverish in 3rd place. Each team received special prizes for accumulating the highest forum points throughout the year.

The chapter also recognised Accelerator grads Kate Blundy and Alex Schnyder who have now joined as EO Members.

On a different note, the Global Communications Committee has rewarded the EO Melbourne chapter with US$1,000 as one of the top five chapters in the region with the highest percentage of member profiles with the EO branding on LinkedIn.

Congratulations to all the winners! With this year’s theme focused on unleashing the Power of EO Melbourne, we look forward to a fun and more exciting FY 2022/23 for the chapter!

Unleashing one’s leadership potential through EO

How do you unleash your leadership potential? For Entrepreneurs’ Organization, it is important to support the needs of the 360° entrepreneur through business, family, community & personal experiences and help them grow, develop and reach their full capacity as business leaders. 

This is why EO’s Global Leadership Conference (GLC) plays a critical role in defining what leadership at EO means, serving as a source of inspiration and a key moment to building a community for tens of thousands of EO members. GLC is EO’s flagship event that empowers members with the tools, insights, and networks they need to unlock their capabilities. 

The theme for this year’s GLC is ‘Unleash’ – helping every member unearth greater success, find their greater purpose and have a greater impact on those around them. It saw an innovative in-person and virtual hybrid format that made it accessible to all through in-person events in Washington, D.C., USA and Barcelona, Spain, and virtual access on its online platforms. Over the course of five days, talks, workshops, webinars and interactive sessions helped EO members hone their skills and abilities as individuals and as a collective – finding opportunities, not challenges; stepping stones, not roadblocks.

Speakers from different industries shared their journeys, insights and learnings to inspire participants to look within their respective experiences and apply the lessons they captured from these sessions. Headlining the GLC 2022 was supermodel-turned-super businesswoman Tyra Banks, who talked about her beginnings, the challenges and the successes she experienced in her journey. Here are a few takeaways from some of the speakers during the conference.

• “Don’t delegate your core competency. The biggest lesson I’ve learned during quarantine is that it’s not always about defence, you have to play offence. You have to figure it out. Another lesson I learned is that there’s strength in numbers.” - Tyra Banks, Executive Producer & Host of America’s Next Top Model and CEO of the Tyra Banks Company

• “Our ability follows where our mind leads. Unleashing our potential is a strength we all have. ‘Unleash’ is more than the theme of this year’s GLC. ‘Unleash’ is a rallying cry for us, entrepreneurs, to level up, to be more of who we are, to bend the future.” - Marc Stockli, Managing Director of MOS Advisory Services

• “I learned that sometimes life doesn’t work out the way that we plan it, it very seldom does, but I learned that I am the one who chooses how I want to live my life. Some goals are hard to reach, they may feel like an eternity, and my goals were definitely unrealistic. But instead of being demoralised by the vastness of that goal, I decided to break it down into one day at a time. By doing so, it just didn’t feel like it was that overwhelming.” - Karina Hollekim, professional Free-skier, BASE jumper and Co-founder and Head of E-Learning for Young Happy Minds

• “The key is utilisation. One of the biggest lies is that knowledge is power. Now, is it really? At best, knowledge is potential power. It becomes ‘power’ when we utilise it and when we apply it. The number one skill to your success is your ability to learn rapidly. If you and your team could learn rapidly and translate that learning into action, it’s the ultimate competitive advantage, bar none.” - Jim Kwik, Founder at Kwik Learning

• “Nothing that is meant for you will ever get away if you’re open to it. It’s okay to take a turn and a change into a new direction that is completely different from where you started and where your passion lies. It doesn’t have to be these major, big changes that we make. It could be small, little changes that we make along the way, utilising the tools and opportunities that we already have in our hands, creating different outcomes for ourselves.” - Tala Raassi, Fashion Designer, Entrepreneur & Author

• “What is your victory going to be? What’s the story that you’re going to tell with your life? What is your purpose? What is your company’s purpose? What are you going to give to your employees so that they can live a life of purpose? What are you going to do with the blessings of your life? As you guys go forth, I want you to think about what I said at the very beginning – this whole ‘help one, help many’ thing. Who’s your one? Go back to wherever you live and let’s just solve it for one person. But I think I know what’s going to happen. You all don’t know how to stop at one. One’s going to turn into two, two into four, and all of a sudden, a roomful of people that are changing the world.” - Mick Ebeling, Founder and CEO of Not Impossible

• “I was never willing, at any point, to say ‘I’m done, I give up’ because defeat is not a real thing until the second you say, ‘I give up.’ And even when I saw the Thuggs, I was done for the season, but I wasn’t done for my life.” - Brian Smith, Founder of UGG Australia

More insights were shared by various other speakers in the different Learning Blocks – Potential, Community, and Impact – and the Breakout Sessions during the conference. The GLC is an occasion for EO to come together and unlock the power of community. It provides an opportunity to use our connections to make entrepreneurship a force for good in the world and to unearth how we can have greater impact as an organisation.

The Excitement Soars High at the iFLY EO Melbourne Family Event

It was a fun Sunday for EO Melbourne families as participants had a thrilling experience at the iFLY Family Event held on 3 April 2022 at the iFLY Melbourne attraction. 

Recognising the importance of entrepreneurs spending quality time with their families and loved ones, EO Melbourne has always been putting together family events for its members and their families to enjoy.

Adults and children alike had the opportunity to soar high in this indoor skydiving facility without having to jump out of an airplane. The facility is the first 14-ft diameter iFLY wind tunnel to be built in Melbourne. 

Participants first had hands-on training with a professional coach as they were briefed on the safety procedures of the activity. They were also provided with flight gear to prepare them for their indoor flight. The good thing about this activity is that no previous experience was necessary and anyone over the age of 3 years old could participate.

Members have nothing but commendation for such a fun and one-of-a-kind experience. “It’s a great unique experience to share with the family,” Damian Blumenkranc said. 

EO Melbourne is part of the global network of Entrepreneurs’ Organization, a unique, experience-based network that supports the needs of the 360° entrepreneur through business, family, community & personal experiences. Our chapter offers world-class learning events, skills-specific workshops and a venue to exchange business stories that help our members learn and grow.

EO Melbourne's online catch-up events: Chat Roulette and Needs & Leads

In a time when physical interaction is limited and most people are at home due to restrictions, reaching out to one another is of great importance. Having a community where members can seek help or extend assistance can make a huge difference in people’s lives. This is how EO Melbourne has become a flourishing environment for entrepreneurs where continuous growth and constant support takes place.

Recently, the chapter held virtual catch-up events that allowed members to get to know each other at a deeper level and lend a hand to those in need. Members were more than enthusiastic to participate in such endeavours that provided them with an avenue to strengthen their bond as they navigate the challenges of the current crisis together.

Needs and Leads

The EO Melbourne community is always thriving due to the rich exchanges of ideas among members. Taking this a step further, the chapter created an exclusive virtual event with structured networking and business matching.

It was an opportunity for members to connect, express their needs, and provide leads for each other. Participants of this online session had the chance to share their three core areas where help was required, and at the same time, offer introductions or solutions for the other participants.

Based on the positive feedback received, the chapter offered a second round of this online event. Needs & Leads 2 included Board Members from EO Brisbane and EO Sydney to assist participants who had needs in those states, a great benefit for members with national businesses.

Chat Roulette

Ever heard of Chatroulette? It's a site that took the internet by storm in 2010 that pairs random users for webcam-based conversations. EO Melbourne introduced its version of it, but on Zoom. Instead of random users, EO automatically paired members with each other.

EO Melbourne's "Chat Roulette" Social Hour was an enjoyable event for those who love to network, wherein speed dating and Forum One2One was combined into a single, fun, and cool activity.

This event allowed members to have four one-on-one conversations with other members for ten minutes each. Conversation starters were provided to help move the chats along. It was an opportunity to catch up with other participants and an amazing way for them to get to know someone new.

So, who says one can’t have fun and enjoy other people’s company despite the restrictions of the lockdown? It’s often nice to spend some time with friends and surround yourself with like-minded individuals, even though it’s in the virtual realm. Moreover, having a group like EO Melbourne can help and support you through the challenges that the present situation may bring.

Interested to be part of EO Melbourne? Click here to join.

EO Melbourne's virtual Wine-Tasting Nights

A week loaded with various tasks and business concerns to attend to deserves a relaxing Friday evening. A glass or two of wine is a wonderful way to cap the work week and welcome the weekend. EO Melbourne recognises this as the chapter recently held virtual wine-tasting events for its members.

To start our virtual wine tasting journey, EO Melbourne Member Hugh Jones and his wife Raquel, the couple that established Weathercraft Wines, hosted a wine-tasting night where participants enjoyed three of their wines: 2018 Limited Chardonnay, 2019 Rosé, and 2017 Shiraz.

Hugh and Raquel shared the story behind each wine, its characteristics and how they are processed. Produced from the Weathercraft Wines vineyard in Beechworth, their wines are a result of fruits handpicked from painstakingly managed vines.

But there’s more to just the bottles of wine that the group enjoyed. They were also inspired by the journey that the Jones couple took in turning Weathercraft Wines into a reality. “In 2016, my wife Raquel and I fulfilled a long-held dream and purchased an established, premium vineyard, at Beechworth in North East Victoria. We immediately started producing our wines from the site. Raquel focuses on the winemaking, whilst I focus on the business side,” Hugh revealed.

“Vintage dependent, we produce around 1,800 cases of wine per year from our little winery, and we are very fortunate to be located within spitting distance of some of Australia’s most iconic producers, such as Giaconda, Savaterre and Castagna, to name but a few. Although our focus is on Chardonnay and Shiraz, Raquel’s European heritage has inspired us to grow alternate Spanish varieties best suited to the climate, rainfall and soil composition of our site,” he added.

The following wine-tasting event was a Wine Masterclass brought by Willow Creek Vineyard & Jackalope Hotel and Brad Hampel, EO Melbourne Member and Director of Solution Entertainment. Attendees learned more about the art of winemaking and food pairing during this virtual event.

Glass-in-hand, winemaker Geraldine McFaul walked guests through the winemaking process and shared her viticultural secrets. Participants were also led to a guided wine tasting experience with Jackalope Hotel’s Food & Beverage Director (and Sommelier), Ollie Tucker.

McFaul’s understanding of the terroir and its subtleties is instinctive. When working with exemplary fruit, McFaul says the biggest challenge is “doing less rather than more”. For the wines from the Willow Creek Vineyard, it’s all about letting the vineyard shine through.

With a fastidious focus on cool­-climate chardonnay and pinot noir, McFaul makes some of the most elegant single-vineyard wines on the Mornington Peninsula. Under the expert hands of original viticulturists Robbie O’Leary and, more recently, Ant Davenport, Willow Creek Vineyard’s fruit is hand-tended, block by block, which includes pruning, canopy management, yield control, and harvest. The vineyard consistently produces the fruit of excellent quality, lending itself to minimal intervention and manipulation in the winery.

Members additionally experienced a wine and cheese night with Austin’s Wines, who delivered a virtual pairing of 2018 Austin’s Chardonnay and 2018 Austin’s Pinot Noir as well as L’Artisan Cheeses & crackers in the comforts of their homes.

Austin’s is a family-owned vineyard in Victoria’s beautiful Moorabool Valley. They have been producing wine since 1982 and is now owned by the second generation of Austins.

————

These virtual wine-tasting events have been popular among members of the EO Melbourne chapter where they were able to connect online and enjoy the experience amid restrictions imposed due to the pandemic.

How about you, what activities do you engage in to relax your mind and body after a hard day’s work? We’d love you to share your story with us.

Ways of streamlining your business

As your business grows, you will find that tasks increase, files pile up, materials (and dust) gather and more things need your attention. Some items take longer to turn around, need several documents and require to deal with a lot of people. When work gets more complicated and unproductive, maybe it’s time to review your business and see where you need to streamline and simplify things.

Streamlining items and systems means you declutter objects and remove unnecessary steps so that you can cut down on wastage and use resources wisely. You can use modern technology and techniques to make your organisation more efficient than before. How to do that? Take a look at a few suggestions on how to simplify different aspects of your business, whether they are physical objects or processes.

Focus on your core products and services

When you try to expand your business, the temptation to do many other things that may no longer be part of your core products or services is high. Instead of doing so many things within your business, it is better to separate them into different ventures and let each focus on its strong components. Pay more attention to the quality over quantity of work you do. Eliminate factors that are not essential to your business but take a lot of time, resources, and energy from you and your team.

Outsource certain tasks

For you to be able to focus on the core of your business, outsource the components that are not your expertise. Which part of your business can you farm out to experts? Is it design, finance, IT, engineering, PR, marketing or delivery? Outsourcing allows you to have lesser things to think about, do what you’re best at, and reduce cost. 

Take out unnecessary steps in processes

From hiring to finance to procurement to operations to generating reports, review if there are steps that are not very essential to the processes within your enterprise. Go through your workflow and check the gaps and bumps that may hinder more than help accomplish a particular task. If you need checks and balances, you can put in systems that will enable you to monitor and generate reports without having to go through extra steps and assign too many people.

Remove redundancies

Check for any redundant positions, tasks, items, or machines. There may be too many forms to fill out. While back-ups are necessary, you can always come up with techniques and strategies to do this without adding another layer in your process or extra task to do to get work done. See if there are any overlap of roles and work. The leaner and simpler things are, the easier and more efficient you accomplish your goals.

Shift to electronic copies

Do you have piles of paper stacked on your desk? Is it difficult to find an important document among the folders kept on your shelf? Shift to electronic copies and cut down on paper usage. This way, you not only minimise your expenses but you also help save the planet. Be sure to have a system on how you organise files to make it easy to find. When it comes to streamlining, also review your physical space if it is conducive for work or if there is too much clutter that sometimes affects the way people do their job.

Automate your systems

Take advantage of modern technology and see the available software in the market that can help you in your business. You can consult an expert to check which part of your venture you can automate and make things faster and more efficient. Focus on the portion where you spend more time and workforce so you can ease the flow of processes.

Reduce delays

Maybe there are things where you can communicate online or electronically so that you don’t need to spend more time on the road or be physically present in meetings. If you can make things faster or lessen the amount of time you need to spend on menial tasks, find ways to reduce delays. Cut down on your travel time and do meetings more efficiently.

When you have streamlined your business, review it from time to time so that you can adjust and refine the changes you have instituted. No need to complicate things when you can do them more simply. In the end, you can even be more productive while saving some of your energy and resources.

‍ ‍

How to do a proper handover and transition at work

People exiting an organisation is a common occurrence in every business. There are plenty of reasons why staff members leave the company. Whatever is the circumstance behind an employee departing, the changing of employees is something that every entrepreneur should prepare for to ensure that there are no gaps in-between periods of a team member leaving and a new one coming in.

A common scenario is to secure a short overlap of time where new and old staff can work together. However there are many times when the outgoing staff member has already ended their service while the incoming person has not yet begun working in the company. Whichever circumstance you have in your business, it is best to assign a person, such as an HR staff or team leader or office manager, to oversee that proper turnover is done by the exiting employee.

Below are a few pointers to facilitate a smooth transition of work so that nothing is left unattended when someone leaves your team.

Have a turnover meeting

It may take a single meeting with the outgoing staff member or a series of meetings to discuss the transition and handing over of tasks. Let the employee give you an overview of the day-to-day activities of the position the person is holding, incomplete tasks, and other pertinent information you may need to continue where the member has left off. If a new person is already reporting, sit together with both of them so that you can all discuss pending matters that the departing person will be leaving behind as well as orient the incoming employee about the role.

Create a turnover document

Prepare a checklist of things you need from the employee so that it’s easier to navigate through the tasks once the position is left vacant. The document includes the list of files being handed over, unfinished tasks or unfulfilled responsibilities, and the contact details of clients, suppliers and other stakeholders they normally deal with while working in the organisation. If the person is handling social media accounts and online access on behalf of the company, get the account information and passwords. The document becomes a reference for you and the one who will be filling in the role.

Check physical and digital files being left behind

Don’t just simply receive the files handed over to you. Review them and familiarise with them, especially with contracts and important documents. For the soft files, understand how they are organised so it’s easy for you to look for them in the future. Verify the list of files given to you and check thoroughly in case something is missing or forgotten.

Get introduced to accounts, clients or contacts the person is handling

In positions where the employee has several external contacts or dealings with, such as in sales and marketing, be sure to get the directory of these accounts. Set a timeline where the outgoing team member introduces you or the new person to people they regularly come in contact with during their tenure in your company.

Set a period to shadow the outgoing employee

Sitting down one time or having a single meeting before the employee leaves may not be enough to fully cover the gaps. If a new person has begun reporting, let that person shadow the outgoing employee as part of the new staff training and orientation. Otherwise, if there’s still no one to take the place of that team member assign someone who will shadow the person or document the day-to-day tasks and activities properly to have a smooth onboarding process when the new person comes in.

Generally, it is easier and more cost efficient to retain good people because hiring a new one takes a lot of effort and energy. However, since it cannot be avoided that people will leave an organisation, better be prepared for this eventuality by setting up a system that will make handing over of tasks seamless that will ensure the continuity of tasks.