The You Project

For much of her life, Maxine Windram dealt with the mental, emotional, physical and social pain of big boobs (her term, don't yell at me), embarrassing shopping experiences, incompetent sales people, ill-fitting bras and a complete lack of knowledge, service or care for people in her situation. In 2006, off the back of her experiences, some tireless research and countless conversations with other women (and also with zero business or sales experience), Maxine and her mum Lin, launched Brava; a brand catering for women in the D to K cup range. Thirteen years down the track, Brava is an award-winning company with a thriving online business, six retail stores (in Sydney and Melbourne) and an amazing culture that both customers and staff love to be in. I think most people will enjoy this chat but especially those thinking about building a business or brand (of any kind) one day, but have no idea where to start.

This Episode is anything but typical. There hasn't been a TYP like it and there might not be another for a while. Paul and I explore all things physical, spiritual, metaphysical, philosophical and mystical and if you're into such things, you'll dig it. If not, your head might explode. Personally, I loved it. And love Paul. *PAUL'S BIO: Paul Chek is a world-renowned expert in the fields of corrective and high-performance exercise kinesiology, stress management and holistic wellness. For over thirty years, Paul's unique, integrated approach to treatment and education has changed the lives of many of his clients, his students and their clients. By treating the body as a whole system and finding the root cause of a problem, Paul has been successful where traditional approaches have consistently failed. Paul is the founder of the CHEK (Corrective Holistic Exercise Kinesiology) Institute, based in California, USA and the P~P~S Success Mastery Coaching Program. He is a prolific author of books, articles and blog posts. In addition, Paul is a registered Native American Spirit Guide and Medicine Man with the Nemenhah Band (people of the truth) and Native American Traditional Organization (NAC) where he initiates a process of awakening often fulfilling comprehensive healing through sacred ceremony.

The bloke with more degrees than a thermometer is back in the studio sharing his wit, charm, wisdom, directness and motivation in his unique and engaging style. Neuroscientist, Nutritionist, Exercise Physiologist, Affiliate Professor (Uni. San Franciso), High Performance Coach, Corporate Speaker and Author. Other than that, he's done fuck all. *Oh, and BTW, Paul is speaking at our first ever TYP Conference in February.

This episode is a random mix of nine brief self-contained messages, ideas and stories all with a focus on thinking, doing and creating better. It's a kind-of coaching, thinking-out-loud session.

About twenty years ago, two young blokes flew from Sydney to see Australia's biggest PT facility in action (mine) and to talk to me about creating their own business. What was meant to be a couple of hours, turned into two days! Not long after that meeting, Andrew Simmons and Geoff Jowett (who's since moved on) created Vision Personal Training and their original idea (to set up one training facility) has morphed into a fitness industry powerhouse, with 59 centres across Australia and New Zealand. In this candid conversation, Andrew and I talk about turning an idea (fitness or other) into a living, breathing business. We also talk about understanding the market, having a point of difference, understanding the needs of clients (no matter what the industry, service or product), evolving and adapting to the ever-shifting business landscape and the personal dangers of 'becoming' the business.

Michael Markezic is a TYP listener and wanna-be Coach, who endured sixteen hours on a bus (to and from Canberra), just to spend an hour asking me some questions. That's commitment. I loved this conversation, his questions and his genuine curiosity to learn, develop and understand the human condition. Among other things, we discuss ready-ness to change, excuses vs. reasons, thoughts on motivational speakers, choosing a path, optimising potential, why people give up, standing out in a sea of competitors, the need to innovate and create (vs. imitate and follow), my book writing process and why stories matter.

Like me, Ken Baldwin is a Fitness Industry dinosaur but unlike me, he's still knee deep educating, training and inspiring Fitness Professionals to be their best for themselves, and of course, their clients. Ken is the Director of Education for Perform Better Australia, the Founder of The Healthy Ageing Institute and is on the advisory board for the Functional Ageing Institute. With over 30 years of experience in all areas of Fitness & Health, Ken now focuses on developing research based programming around the Active Ageing. In this episode of TYP, Ken and I talk about the state and direction of the fitness industry (past, present and future), how to age intelligently, specialising versus being a generalist (as a fitness or health professional), why most PTs have short careers (18 months on average), the importance of building rapport with clients and the importance of walking your talk and being a role model.

Sharelle McMahon is maybe the best athlete I've worked with, and that's saying something. Fierce, gifted, passionate, courageous, well prepared, wildly competitive and an amazing work ethic. Apart from Captaining the Australian Netball Team, Melbourne Phoenix and Melbourne Vixens, Sharelle also won two world championship, two Commonwealth Games Gold medals and represented Australia 118 times over thirteen years. In this episode, we discuss eating disorders and body dysmorphia in sport, dealing with stress and anxiety at the elite level, superstitions and rituals, building confidence and self-belief, feeling like a fraud (yep, her too) and she even throws an ex-boyfriend under the bus. This is a fun and revealing chat.

Lisa Alexander is the Coach of one of Australia's most successful sporting teams; The Diamonds (our National Netball Team). She is a Coach, Teacher, Mentor and Leader at the highest level. In this episode of TYP, Lisa and Craig talk about performing under pressure, what makes a great coach, developing potential, lessons in failure, who succeeds and why and knowing when to 'hang it up'.

Speaker, Author and former Police Inspector Paul O'Brien returns to chat about a broad range of subject matter, including Imposter Syndrome, self-doubt, resilience, middle-of-the-night weird thoughts and freak-outs... and much more. Paul also takes Craig to task regarding the way he puts himself down.

Dr Ali Walker is an author, social scientist and media presenter in the fields of sociology and social psychology. In this episode of TYP, Craig and Ali talk about the weirdness and wonder of being human. Ali's latest book is called 'Get Conscious: How to Stop Overthinking & Come Alive'.

A few years ago, I wrote a silly little list in about ten minutes. That list became the most read, commented on, shared, translated and plagiarised thing I've ever written. People have even turned it into products without permission. Calendar anyone? In this episode of TYP, Melissa and I talk about the idea behind, the value of, and the implementation of each rule.

John Young spent most of the last twenty years doing a job he didn't really enjoy. At all. A little over a year ago, he decided to step out of the security, familiarity and predictability of his well-paid career and into the uncertainty of 're-training' in fitness, putting on the 'L plates', starting at the bottom, making way less money and re-inventing himself professionally (as a PT) in his mid-forties. John is listener number four to visit the podcast and in this episode, he and Craig discuss the myriad of challenges and issues that come with changing careers later in life. *Also, Craig shares a story which is possibly the funniest in TYP history.

Thirteen days before I recorded this chat with the Crab (my training partner, Mark), he died. Well, for seventeen minutes anyway. It happened while we were training and it's fair to say that those seventeen minutes, and all the minutes since, have been interesting. Getting him into the studio was almost as miraculous as his return from the other side. Public speaking is not his favourite thing but nonetheless, he said yes. This episode is not really 'personal development' (although there are lessons and take-aways) but plenty of you asked for it and it's a really interesting conversation. *Note: I apologise for the audio peaks and troughs. The Crab is not as loud as his training partner and despite my coaching, not particularly interested in talking into the mic.

In instalment 3 of our 'come and chat with Harps' series, James travels all the way from Queensland for a little coaching, connecting, coercing and conversing. Among many things, the boys speak about dealing with anxiety, leadership, self-awareness, identity, letting go, business ownership, finding clarity and wanting 'different', while not really knowing what that different might look like.