Going Solo

In 2017 two UTS (University of Technology Sydney) engineering students, Scott McKeon and Will Scuderi were playing around with a way to extend their laptop screen using an iPad. Will went home that day and 3D-printed a bracket to hold the iPad to his laptop. It was crude and clunky but worked. More importantly, it gave them the idea to create something new, something not just they both, but everyone needed.With some borrowed money, they jumped a plane to China, inserted themselves into the world of consumer electronics manufacturing, crowd-funded nearly half a million dollars, and built themselves the Espresso Display.Having won rave reviews from Forbes and TechCrunch Scott and Will have forged their destiny, well the start of one anyway.I talk with Scott McKeon about their inspiration, vision, journey, and plans for living up to the title of being creators of the 'portable screen that could change your life'. 

Nearly a decade of freelancing as a Writer, Director, Producer, and Editor taught Josef more than just resilience, determination, and commercial nouse. It taught him to know to strike when the iron is hot, and that time is now.As Founder and Executive Producer of the full-service content production company, JJW Studio, Josef has been an integrated Creative for the past 20-years and has a wealth of knowledge across the content landscape and has worked with a wide range of brands, agencies, and artists.In this podcast, we deep-dive into Josef's career to date, how he has been affected by the 2020 economic and health crisis, and how he is taking the opportunity to lay the foundation for his business future whilst he has the (down)time.This podcast is a must for freelancers and sole traders seeking inspiration and knowledge on the topic of when to start your business and the courage needed to do so.

If the saying 'lived experience makes the best Advisor', then Holly Shoebridge is for you. With a career journey that began with professional surfing, then counselling, primary school ethics teaching, and professional photography, Holly certainly has the experience to help self-employed and sole traders navigate their way through business.A qualified CPA Accountant, Holly is not your typical Accountant yet takes great joy in being able to pass on her 15-years as an Accountant in the assistance of her clients.In this podcast, Holly talks about her journey, the ways she goes about dispensing advice, and what drives her to succeed in helping others achieve.This podcast is a must for freelancers, sole traders, and those looking to join the self-employed world.

Understanding wealth creation can be confusing at the best of times. Staying on top of wealth creation is can be even more confusing.Mark MacLeod saw this confusion in the market and decided to do something about it. Armed with an MBA and more than a decade experience in financial services, he set about the creation of Rollit Wealth to help those Australians who strive at work to get ahead financially and pursue a better life. To say Mark is passionate about this pursuit is an understatement.In this podcast and webinar, he talks about his reasons for being an entrepreneur, what he wanted to achieve, how the Rollit Wealth app helps, and what he has in store for the future. As he says, "At Rollit Wealth, we're empowering wealth creation. Our smart tools cover all aspects of our financial lives from superannuation, property and financial advice, to shopping discounts, spending analysis and budgeting. Everything you need to be... rolling in it!".

Today we talk with Charles Cameron, the CEO of the Recruitment, Consulting and Staffing Association of Australia & New Zealand (RCSA). Amongst other interests, Charles is passionate about all things concerning the engagement of employees, contractors, freelancers, and sole traders. Charles, the positive optimist, shares with us his journey of growing up in country Victoria, starting his career in the Victorian Farmers Federation, growing his labour law consulting practise, and becoming the CEO of one of Australia's peak representative bodies.We discuss his views on the explosive growth of the gig and freelance elements of the workplace, the evolving framework of legal structures that support these elements, and the requirement to protect those 'gig workers' and freelancers that are genuinely vulnerable while ensuring not to impeach the capacity of others.We also talk about the passion Charles holds for the association and its members that he represents. He tells us how the association is changing with the times and evolving to meet the needs of its members now, into the future, and how it is poised to take on a more significant role encompassing the new gig and freelance elements of the workplace.

The rise of the gig economy is unprecedented and unstoppable. That's a good thing as it adds diversity of working style and flexibility of working hours, however, it also comes with some distinct differences to the 'old-school' style of direct employment and its associated benefits including holiday leave, sick leave, and superannuation. What do people who work for themselves do to cover these benefits? What is the government doing to legislate these benefits? And what are the options for freelancers and sole traders?We talk with Peter Stanhope about his new start-up, GigSuper, and how it is helping freelancers and sole traders look after one of the main things missing from their working and personal lives, superannuation and the chance of a healthy and funded retirement. 

With the rise of the gig and freelance economies comes a need for representation, learning, and connection. That's where Cameron Rambert and Freelance Australia come into play.Cameron is the Founder & CEO of Australia's largest and most active not-for-profit associations that helps freelancers and sole traders connect with like-minded peers, learn how to better their solo tradecraft, earn more for the work they do and build their profile and business.We deep-dive into Cameron's journey and discuss all things related to being a successful freelancer or sole trader.

Grant McCall is the Founder and Designer of Australian-based accounting App for freelancers and sole traders, Rounded.10-years as a freelance designer and developer taught Grant a lot about running a solo business. But when every other aspect of his business was down to fine art, the elephant in the room was getting louder: he’d tried dozens of accounting platforms and caused himself nothing but hours of manual work trying to get his finances tax-ready. The tipping point came one chilly Melbourne morning when Grant—quite literally—tipped a box of paper receipts onto his Accountant’s desk. Two hours later, Grant walked out of that office with a new mission: to build an accounting App that makes work better for the self-employed. That App is called Rounded.