A few months ago Jake had zero posts on Instagram. Now he’s posting every day for 30 days and couldn’t care less what people think.

Episode 1 of the Open Mic Podcast. Jake’s from York, about an hour and a half out of Perth, and we met at the Dowerin Field Days while I was filming. He’d seen my content, walked over to say g’day and spent the whole chat convinced I could smell the Bundy on his breath. I couldn’t.

Most of this one is about how Jake pushed past the anxiety that kept him off camera for years. We talk about what happens when you start posting and suddenly everyone back home knows you as the content guy, and the tall poppy thing in Perth you don’t really get out in the Wheatbelt. He also gets honest about the drinking culture in country towns, where a lot of people use it to cope with their mental health, and why changing that is the reason behind everything he’s doing.

In the card questions Jake talks about losing his dad when he was eight and growing up fast to support his mum and little brother. We finish on a simple idea: one more.

If you’ve been holding off on putting yourself out there because of what people might think, hit play.

About Open Mic

Open Mic is where local legends come in and share a challenge they’ve overcome. Got a story? DM @the_growth.concept to grab a spot at the next one.

About Jake

Jake is from York in WA’s Wheatbelt. He works FIFO and has picked up the camera to build his own creative business, sharing the whole journey honestly online. His bigger mission is helping people in regional towns get out of their own heads and look after their mental health.

Connect with Jake

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jakebrennanmedia/

Connect with The Growth Concept

Website: thegrowthconcept.com.au
Instagram: @the_growth.concept
YouTube: youtube.com/@TheGrowthConcept1
Sponsored by: Growth Concept Media (growthconceptmedia.com.au)

Soovanch came to Perth from Mauritius at nineteen, straight out of high school, an only child leaving his mum and dad with tears in their eyes. He was homesick for the first two years and planned to go home the minute his Murdoch degree was done. He stayed. Ten years on he's a mindset coach, a public speaking trainer, and he owns a stage like few people I've watched.

Here's the bit that got me. He only worked out his why this year.

We go right back to the start. The TED Talks that made him wonder what those speakers had that he didn't, the Eventbrite search that landed him at a Toastmasters club in Harrisdale in July 2024, and the car park moment where he nearly turned around and drove home. His first table topic was about his wardrobe. Now he wants every question going.

What we get into: the five years of research that took him back to the 1800s, Ralph Waldo Emerson, the New Thought movement and the old Hermetic idea that everything is mental, all landing on the same line. You become what you think about. Why Earl Nightingale's definition of success is the best I've heard on this show. Think and Grow Rich, Carnegie and Ford, and the 30 minute recording from the 1950s that changed how he sees everything. Why he reckons conformity is a disease and most people are playing follow the follower, how to tell if the path you're on is actually yours, and why he stopped competing and started creating. Then the question cards come out and we both have to answer: what you'd do if money wasn't a factor, what people assume about you when they first meet you, and who you'd reconnect with if you could. His answer to that last one is why you should take the people you look up to out for dinner, and bring a notepad.

If you're doing all the reading and all the podcasts and still can't answer why you're here, this one's for you.

About Soovanch

Soovanch is a certified mindset coach, public speaking trainer, keynote speaker and MC based in Perth. He runs Soovanch: From Within, working one-on-one and with groups on self-concept, discipline and stage fright, and his corporate finance background is where the structure in his coaching comes from. He came up through Toastmasters at Harrisdale and hosts his own podcast on YouTube.

Connect with Soovanch

Website: soovanch.com

Book a session: https://calendly.com/soovanch-info

Email: info@soovanch.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/soovanch/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soovanch/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@soovanch

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@soovanch

Books and resources from this episode

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

The Strangest Secret by Earl Nightingale (about 30 minutes, free on YouTube)

Psycho-Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz

The Power of One More by Ed Mylett

Soovanch's write-up on The Strangest Secret: https://soovanch.com/the-strangest-secret/

Connect with The Growth Concept

Website: www.thegrowthconcept.com.au

Sponsored by: Growth Concept Media

growthconceptmedia.com.au

Four minutes left in the grand final AFL. Freo in front. Then the stadium plays Wolfie Time, and Brisbane find another gear.

Leigh Farnell has been coaching business owners, sales teams and elite sporting teams since 1985. He reckons that song was a sports psychology own goal.

In this episode we unpack why, and what it teaches every leader about emotional state, triggers and the energy inside a team. First, though, Leigh's story. He grew up in working class Eaglehawk and watched his dad lose his job and his sense of who he was. He came close to going down the wrong path with the wrong crowd. Then one mate made a single invitation that changed everything. Leigh is the founder of the CZ6 Sales & Business Growth System, host of the Leading Your Best Life podcast and author of Degrees Don't Close Deals. He's worked with more than 400 organisations across 18 countries and 47 industries, from Telstra to the WA under 18 state footy team.

CONNECT WITH LEIGH Website: https://www.leighfarnell.com CZ6 Sales & Business Growth: https://www.pdc-growth.com Book a free 15 min call: https://calendly.com/lfbb/exploratory-meeting-15mins Free 2 min Sales & Business Growth Quiz: https://leigh-ajoeneff.scoreapp.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leighfarnell/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LeighFarnellBestBusinessConsulting Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leighfarnell/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@leighfarnell3560 LEIGH'S PODCAST: LEADING YOUR BEST LIFE Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1fnDlrXvIj7b6P1NP4ZP3h Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/leading-your-best-life-with-leigh-farnell/id1421054862 LEIGH'S MUSIC L4L Empowering Music (I Can I Will, The Champions Code, In the Zone). Search "L4L Empowering Music" on Spotify or Apple Music. LEIGH'S BOOKS (CZ6 Sales and Business Growth Series) Free ebook, Degrees Don't Close Deals: https://designrr.page/?id=661431&token=3119081602&h=2978 The Sales Management Masterclass The Team Chemistry Playbook (with Gerard McNeill) The Synergy Effect The Culture Playbook Lead, Grow, Thrive: The New Kaizen Mindset More Leads. More Sales. More Profit. (with Stefan Jadlowkier) The Sales Transformation Systems Leader (with David Horlock) Full series: https://www.leighfarnell.com/book

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey The Art of War by Sun Tzu

If this one hit home, send it to a leader who needs to hear it. Follow The Growth Concept for more real conversations. www.thegrowthconcept.com.au

Keep going!