Finding Meaning In Work

Cam grew up in a family boarding kennel, but only late in his career did he connect that upbringing to a vocation. After years in sales and a decade in banking, Cam felt misaligned with corporate hierarchy and box-ticking. Near 40, he listed what he truly liked and dogs kept winning. He enrolled in a training accreditation, joined a mentor circle, worked in a high-volume shelter, and launched Act Of Dog with a simple site and Google ads. Now he specialises in fear, anxiety and aggression, teaching that trust and self-regulation must come before obedience. He shares the pivotal moments—London resilience, key mentors, a supportive partner—and the practical model he uses with both dogs and people: create safety, then teach. Today, he balances running his business with working at the RSPCA, helping post-adoption dogs and private clients with behaviour intervention. Campbell’s journey from finance to canine behavior showcases his dedication to improving the lives of dogs and their guardians.

Bryony Cole, the world's foremost authority on sextech, explores how technology influences our most intimate moments.  Known for her top-rated podcast Future of Sex, she advises governments, tech giants, and entertainment leaders on emerging sextech trends.  Cole also founded Sextech School, a pioneering pre-accelerator program, now in its 15th cohort, guiding hundreds of entrepreneurs and innovators in the sexual wellness and technology space. Her innovative research and international hackathons have garnered recognition from events like SXSW, WebSummit and Founders Forum.  Featured in The New York Times, Vogue, and Wired, and seen on Netflix, Bryony's work empowers women and redefines the future of sexuality.  Today, Future of Sex is a central media and resources hub for the sextech industry. Her vision is to create a world where technology enhances human connection, and she actively works towards this by shaping policy, fostering innovation, and advocating for sexual well-being. Contact:  Interviews: bryony@futureofsex.com Instagram: @bryonycole, @futureofsex, @sextechschool

Ruhee is the founder of Allied Collective, Australia’s leading facilitation and wellbeing practice, specialising in leadership development, psychosocial hazard prevention, and workplace culture transformation. With 13+ years of experience supporting over 45 organisations, she has helped businesses improve employee retention, leadership capability, and wellbeing outcomes through targeted, evidence-based training. Her background in psychology, business management, and Yoga philosophy informs a measured, results-driven approach to organisational change. As a Regional Advisory Council member at the Victorian Multicultural Commission, she advises on workplace equity, anti-racism, and economic inclusion. She also mentors women entrepreneurs in wellbeing and leadership. A recognised expert in her field, Ruhee delivers practical, high-impact training and strategy that enables organisations to build stronger, more resilient teams.

Collective Closets is not just part of the Australian fashion landscape—it is actively reshaping it. Founded in Melbourne with a deep commitment to slow fashion, the label bridges continents and cultures through thoughtfully crafted clothing that carries meaning in every thread. Established in 2016 by sisters Fatuma and Laurinda Ndenzako, Collective Closets has grown from an intimate family story into a brand that authentically connects the creative spirit of Africa with Australia’s contemporary fashion identity. Their philosophy is clear and consistent: to create enduring pieces that make women feel seen, understood, and beautiful. Every garment is crafted with intention, designed for women who value both artistry and purpose. The label emerged from a vision to offer something truly distinctive in Australian fashion—a brand that celebrates the vibrant textiles of Africa while speaking directly to the modern Australian woman. Collective Closets' journey began with the iconic Maasai Shuka, whose bold patterns and rich cultural significance became the cornerstone of their design philosophy. As African-Australian designers, Fatuma and Laurinda bring an authentic perspective to the cultural conversation. Their collections go beyond beautiful clothing—they open dialogue, challenge perceptions, and highlight the sophistication of African textiles reimagined through contemporary design. Through each piece, Collective Closets invites wearers to be part of a new chapter in Australia’s fashion narrative—one that celebrates diversity, heritage, and conscious creativity.

Dr. Jason Fox is a wizard-philosopher and bestselling author masquerading as a leadership futurist. He works with questing teams seeking new and meaningful progress—beyond the default.   I had such a great time hosting Dr. Jason Fox aka ‘the wizard philosopher’ on the  podcast. In this conversation, he shares how his unconventional path, from studying motivation and behaviour change to exploring ecological systems and even navigating World of Warcraft informs his work guiding leaders and organisations toward more authentic, purpose-driven strategies. He critiques the narrow, metrics-obsessed approach of many corporate environments, arguing that real progress emerges when people embrace ambiguity, develop deeper curiosity, and remain open to creative possibilities. Whether referencing the importance of liberal arts thinking in an AI-driven era or highlighting how people can find meaning even in mundane roles, Jason emphasises that true meaning can’t be forced or fabricated; instead, it arises from thoughtful engagement with complexity, empathy, and collective exploration

This episode is a bit different. Rather than the usual interview format, we’re trying something new. These "ONE IDEA" episodes feature recordings of essays I’ve written and published on Disruptive Business Network. Covering topics from authenticity to game theory to how technology is shaping our lives, these essays all center on one fundamental theme: our search for meaning, especially in the work we do. I hope you enjoy it. In this first essay: Authenticity We often think of authenticity as simply “being true to ourselves.” But is that really what it means? This essay explores a fascinating story of Johnny Cash’s rebirth, guided by the legendary producer Rick Rubin. Rubin didn’t just focus on the “authentic” man behind the music..he amplified the mythical Man in Black, reigniting Cash’s career in the process. The key insight? Authenticity isn’t about clinging to who you are today; it’s about becoming who you need to be to create impact. In a world that overemphasizes hyper-individualism, this essay challenges that notion, encouraging us to think beyond the ‘I’ and focus on the ‘we.’ Drawing from the wisdom of Aristotle, Nietzsche, and beyond, I explore how true authenticity requires discipline, courage, and connection to others. So how can we redefine authenticity in our own lives? Let’s dive in.    

David Swan is one of Australia's leading technology reporters and editors. He is the Technology Editor for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, and was previously Technology Editor for The Australian newspaper. In 2024 he was awarded Australia's best technology journalist at The Lizzies, Australia's national IT Journalism awards. Previous roles include chief technology reporter at independent IT news website iTWire, and at News Corp publication Technology Spectator.

  In my latest episode of the Finding Meaning in Work podcast, I had the pleasure of speaking with Garry Williams, a cornerstone of Melbourne’s tech community. Garry's story is one of resilience, connection, and a deep commitment to building meaningful spaces for people to gather. Some key themes of the conversation: Community & Connection: Garry has been pivotal in creating spaces that bring people together, not just for networking but for genuine connection. His work in the tech sector, especially with events like FuckUp Nights and his involvement with Inspire9, highlights his passion for fostering meaningful interactions. Burnout & Self-Care: Like a few of us, Garry has faced burnout from saying “yes” too often. His journey in setting boundaries and prioritising self-care is something I think we can all relate to, especially those of us who juggle many roles in our professional and personal lives. Finding Meaning: For Garry, the meaning in his work comes from curating experiences and connecting people. Whether it’s through tech events or helping companies grow, his joy lies in bringing people together and creating spaces where innovation and culture intersect. Looking Forward: Garry's next venture, Group Group, is focused on niche communities—combining his passion for technology, music, and subcultures. It’s exciting to hear about his plans to build something new and impactful in Melbourne’s west. Check out the full episode and subscribe to our newsletter: https://www.disruptivebusinessnetwork.com/podcast   About Garry Williams   Garry (Gaz) Williams - CHIEF CHIEF, GROUP GROUP Gaz runs GROUP GROUP - a specialist advisory+execution brand centred on the overlap of brand-building and capital growth stages for tech focused companies.   Gaz was first employee at Tractor Ventures leading brand-building & marketing for the company that became the fastest growing fintech in Aus. Previously, he was Creative producer of Innovation at University of Melbourne, and worked on some very strange things at Science Gallery Melbourne. As well as running partnerships at General Assembly or coworking at Inspire9, Gaz has an extreme allergy to vanilla content, and places particular importance on niche creation, experimentation, curation, and the importance of place in his culture meets tech weirdo overlap

In this podcast episode, Landon Brown discusses his career journey from starting in executive search as a teenager to working for tech giants like Google and Airbnb, and eventually founding his own HR consultancy, Partner in Kind. The conversation explores key themes such as finding meaning in work, the challenges of pursuing passion versus purpose, and the importance of social impact. Landon emphasises the role of privilege, his commitment to DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) initiatives, and the need to rethink hiring practices to give more opportunities to diverse candidates. He also encourages listeners to pursue meaningful work, whether within organisations or through entrepreneurship, by taking bold, confident steps to shape their careers. Landon Brown is the Founder and CEO of Partner in Kind, a Talent and HR consultancy that places people and social impact at the heart of everything they do by donating 20% of all fees to charities and not-for-profits. Originally from and now based in Melbourne, but previously living in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and London, Landon brings 15 years experience scaling over 50 different pre-IPO companies across 29 countries, while also previously working internally at Airbnb and Google 

In this episode of "Finding Meaning in Work," I spoke with Michael Cullen, who shared his journey from nursing to leading Future Energy Skills, an organisation that provides licensing assessments and training for the energy sector, particularly electricians. He discussed how his nursing background shaped his empathetic leadership style, emphasising the importance of treating each person as an individual. Michael highlighted the cultural shift at his organisation towards a more supportive and holistic approach to licensing assessments. He also reflected on the evolving industry, particularly the move towards renewable energy and the increasing number of women in trades, and shared his thoughts on meaningful work, which for him means making a positive impact and fostering a culture of growth and happiness About Michael (in his own words)   I have been the Executive Officer of Future Energy Skills for three years, following an operational background of approximately eight years. I am a licensed electrician and electrical inspector, and I spent several years as a registered electrical contractor, running a small business. My passion is people—both the staff who work with me and the larger team that serves our Energy Industry. I firmly believe that culture eats strategy for breakfast. Respect and treat everyone for who they are. I began my adult working life as a nurse, which taught me to appreciate that we all have unique life journeys. We need to be seen, heard, assisted when needed, and respected for what we bring. Our workplaces are made up of individuals who each contribute an important piece to the table, extending to the wider industry and forming the very fabric of our society

In this episode of 'Finding Meaning in Work', we sit down with Daniel Ajak, a defence lawyer and co-founder of the African Australian Legal Network. Born in a refugee camp in Kenya, his family having escaped from Sudan, he is now a lawyer working in Melbourne. His practise is devoted to helping African and other marginalised communities in Melbourne. Daniel shares his incredible journey from adversity to advocacy. Join us as he reflects on the challenges he's faced, the lessons learned, and his commitment to serving his community. 

Welcome to another episode of the 'On Meaningful Work' podcast. In this episode I speak with Tom Campbell, AFL football star and the co-founder of Footy for Climate.    About Tom Tom Campbell is an AFL player with St Kilda Football Club, and has played 12 seasons with the Western Bulldogs, North Melbourne and St Kilda Football Clubs. Over the past decade, Tom has been an ambassador for a number of charities including Stand Up Events (tackling homophobia and gender discrimination in sport) and The Les Twentyman Foundation (supporting at-risk youth) and he co-founded Footy for Climate. Tom is passionate about protecting the future of the planet and footy, and  through Footy for Climate he supports AFL M&W players to use their public platform to advocate for greater climate action and give back to the grassroots of the game      

Hello all and welcome to another episode of the On Meaningful Work podcast   We have a very special episode with the founder of the ethical fashion label etiko: Nick Savaidis   We have a wide ranging conversation touching on Nick's childhood in Melbourne in 50's, the Greek immigrant experience, the fledgling garment industry that sprang up in the suburbs, setting up social enterprises in remote communities, the reasons for ethical fashion and the trials of being an entrepreneur. We cover alot!   About Nick:   Nick Savaidis is the founder of Etiko which was recently voted Australia’s Best All-Round Sustainable Retailer in the inaugural National Online Retailers Sustainability Awards. After working in the education field Nick was involved in establishing and managing a number of social enterprises on remote indigenous communities in the Northern Territory in the early 1990’s. In the early 2000’s he introduced No Sweat the world’s first ethically focussed on to the Australian market place before launching his own Etiko brand in 2006. A street fashion brand for conscious and conscientious consumers Etiko is not only Fairtrade certified, it’s also a B Corp and a registered social enterprise (via Social Traders). In 2016 Etiko became the first fashion brand to ever win an Australian Human Rights Award for its efforts in addressing the exploitation of workers and farmers in fashion supply chains.    

Anna is a social strategist, storyteller and adventurer, starting her career in Social Work before moving into human rights law. Anna's nomadic lifestyle over the decade has allowed her to travel to nearly every nook and cranny in Australia, listening deeply to the stories of communities and working in partnership to translate these to government & business in creative ways. Anna’s lived experience of managing lifelong chronic health issues has influenced her drive to challenge the current business as usual paradigm. Anna works across Australia weaving her depth of experience, her personal story and her deep love of storytelling and nature to guide businesses into relational ways of being.

Dr. Leyla Acaroglu is an internationally-known sustainability provocateur, sociologist, and award-winning designer, focused on systems thinking, sustainability sciences and creative change-making. She was named Champion of the Earth by the United Nations, Change-Maker by Linkedin and is a mainstage TED speaker who leads presentations with leaders around the world on activating positive change for a sustainable, circular and regenerative future. He TED talk on Paper beats Plastic? has more than 1.4M views. As a serial social entrepreneur, she founded The UnSchool, an experimental knowledge lab for adults, developed the Disruptive Design Method and is CEO of creative agency, Disrupt Design.

Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of the On Meaningful Work podcast We have an incredible guest this week in Simon Griffiths, the CEO and Cofounder of Who Gives a Crap. Who Gives A Crap is an Aussie B Corp that sells good looking, forest friendly toilet paper, paper towels and tissues direct-to-consumer. Who Gives A Crap donates 50% of their profits to help build toilets for those in need. As much as Simon loves toilet paper, he helped start the business for its impact, with the company on a mission to improve access to hygiene, clean water and basic sanitation in developing countries. Since founding the company back in 2013, Who Gives A Crap has donated more than $10 million. We cover a lot in this episode, from Simon’s childhood in Perth, his first jobs, his motivations for getting into social entrepreneurship and how the legendary Who Gives A Crap came to be. It is an incredible journey and I hope you enjoy this episode.  

Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of the On Meaningful Work podcast. In this episode I speak with Tony Corrales. Tony has an incredible story - he is originally from England and originally a punk musician , yes he headlined a punk rock band that toured the world. Since then and since moving to Australia Tony has spent the last 10 years working between online and offline marketing for not for profit organisations, along with consulting work in digital strategy and operations. In 2020 he launched the ethical fashion label Noskin along with the Producing with Purpose podcast, which is now evolving into PWP Studios where he and his team provide consulting services and coming soon, online education to make your good business a great business.    Please note: The thing I fear the most while recording a podcast to not happen..happened. The SD card got full and it stopped recording midway though. Tony was gracious enough to backtrack and re-record..but there maybe some continuity issues. So my apologies for that. 

Hello All and welcome to another episode of the On Meaningful Work podcast.   This one is a little bit different. Firstly its a live recording. Secondly the format is a little different. Rather than my usual formula of tracing a person's journey and trying to distil how they came to find meaning and purpose in the work they do, this interview traces a literal journey.  Dr. Chevez wanted to think about the future of work and the likely environments that will support our working lives without any distraction..so he walked from Melbourne to Sydney. It took him 42 days. The book he wrote is a distillation of his ideas and insights from that walk. This interview is a discussion about Dr. Chevez'z book and the ideas he captured about the future of work and how we can find meaning and purpose in the work that we do   About Dr. Chevez: As an architect and academic, Dr Agustin Chevez has dedicated his career to understanding the notion of work and uncovering environments that best support our working lives. Agustin’s interest in the relationship between people, space and technology saw him pursue a PhD on the evolution of workplace architecture as a consequence of technology development. His work has been presented at various international forums and publications. Agustin is a workplace consultant, an Adjunct Research Fellow at the Centre For Design Innovation, Swinburne University, and an Honorary Fellow at the school of Management and Marketing, University of Melbourne.

Hello all and welcome to another episode of the On Meaningful Work podcast. In this episode I am thrilled to be speaking with Matthew Boyd. Matt is the cofounder of Vollie and now the founder of Natureboss. In this episode we dig into Matt's various adventures from growing up in England, immigrating to Australia and establishing himself in Advertising here in Melbourne. A volunteer stint at the Royal Children's Hospital changed Matt's perception of work and inspired him to found Vollie. We dig deep into his entrepreneurial journey and the grit required to get Vollie off the ground. I loved this conversation, I learned a lot from Matt and I hope you do too   About Matt Matthew is the CEO of NatureBoss, an online marketplace which connects corporate teams with environmental groups that can facilitate meaningful experiences in nature. NatureBoss is on a mission to evolve the way businesses connect with the environment. Prior to NatureBoss, Matt Co-Founded Vollie, an online marketplace that is unlocking a new style of skills-based remote volunteering. In 5 years of operation, Vollie has seen 5,000+ social impact projects completed to date, through 300,000+ skilled volunteering hours, generating over $5.7 million of savings to the current 1,200+ non-profits using the service. Prior to Vollie, Matt has 10 years experience in a Marketing, Operations and Business development, and have been responsible for running projects that have contributed close to $10 million for NFP organisations.  

Hello Everyone and welcome to another episode of the On Meaningful work podcast. In this episode I speak with Dr. Armida Fernandez. Dr. Fernandez started her career working with Mumbai’s urban poor in one of the biggest public hospitals there. Within that labyrinthine system Dr. Fernandez was able to implement real change in how medicine and care were to be administered with a real focus on women and newborn health. When she noticed that the problem of women/newborn health was too multifaceted to be solved within the confines of a public hospital she founded SNEHA a not-for-profit that focused on the health of women and children in Dharavi (Mumbai’s biggest slum) - SNEHA has now grown to 490+ staff working across various communities. Throughout her career Dr Ferandez has worked in extremely challenging circumstances, but she has tackled problems with an entrepreneurial zeal. She has demonstrated enormous confidence in her vision and has backed that up with an ability to articulate that vision and bring people along.  It was a pleasure speaking with her   About Dr. Fernandez   Dr. Armida Fernandez is the retired dean of Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital in Mumbai where she was Head of the Dept of Neonatology. She is also retired as the Medical Director of the Holy Family Hospital, Mumbai. She is the founding trustee at SNEHA, an NGO working on health, nutrition and violence in Mumbai's urban slums. She is also the founder of the Romilla palliative care centre. . Her key areas of expertise and interest are promotion of breastfeeding and the care of new born babies especially among the urban poor of Mumbai.  She started the first Human Milk Bank in Asia and has developed many low cost techniques for survival of new born babies. She was named an Ashoka Fellow in 2004 and is the past president of the National Neonatology Forum.