The Mentor with Mark Bouris

Morgan Coleman was working in a corporate career when a chance encounter at the vet with his dog got him thinking about how he could make the process more efficient and painless than traditional vet visits. He saw the opportunity to disrupt the pet care industry with a service that was more convenient for pet owners and less stressful for their pets, so he started his business Vets on Call; a mobile app that delivers high-quality veterinary care right to your door.The business grew rapidly throughout 2020 with people looking elsewhere for services, and their average monthly revenue grew by 600% from July 2020 to January 2021. I ask Morgan about the discipline required to start a business in a field you know nothing about and how he continually pushes for improvement across customer usage and innovation.Join the Facebook Group.Follow Mark Bouris on Instagram, LinkedIn & YouTube. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sean Satha is the Founder of Local Supply - a sustainable, zero-waste eyewear label that is revolutionising the production of glasses. Local Supply uses a plant-based resin to produce their frames, resulting in 50% less carbon emissions than traditional eyewear. In 2020, Local Supply saw online sales surge by over 50% and are set to keep growing.Covid gave the business a chance to completely pause all manufacturing and switch processes and materials to make everything more sustainable, with all of their packaging to be made from recycled or biodegradable materials by the end of 2021. I ask Sean how he’s grown the business, the importance of social media to the brand and how he continually pushes for improvement across sustainability, design and innovation.Join the Facebook Group.Follow Mark Bouris on Instagram, LinkedIn & YouTube. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Joanne Howarth went from being a waste offender in a previous business, to a sustainability crusader after seeing the effect polystyrene was having in her own business. Joanne is the founder of Planet Protector Packaging, who produce sustainable recyclable and biodegradable insulated packaging made from sheep wool waste. They’re on a mission to eliminate polystyrene and become the market leader in sustainable thermal packaging.Since launching in 2016, Planet Protector Packaging has removed 6.5 million polystyrene boxes from supply chains and stopped it from ending up in our oceans. In 2020, the business grew by 50% with increased revenue to farmers and 3500 tonnes of waste wool diverted away from landfill, commercialised, and given a new life. I ask Jo how she’s grown the business so rapidly and the importance of sustainability to her business proposition.Join the Facebook Group.Follow Mark Bouris on Instagram, LinkedIn & YouTube. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My guest today went from a career as a stressed-out corporate lawyer to a hugely successful self-made entrepreneur in a matter of years. Alyce Tran co-founded The Daily Edited (TDE) in 2011 as a fashion and lifestyle blog that quickly evolved into a personalised accessories line. Now The Daily Edited is the go-to destination for luxe lifestyle accessories that are affordable, specialising in monogram-able leather goods.TDE employs more than 150 staff and is available online and in stores across Australia, Singapore and the USA. 2020 was the first time the business didn’t experience growth, so Alyce pivoted the product range to focus on gifts for friends and family sent directly to their door. I ask Alyce how she’s grown the The Daily Edited so rapidly, the importance of social media to her brand and how Covid affected her product range.Join the Facebook Group.Follow Mark Bouris on Instagram, LinkedIn & YouTube. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My guests today were studying at uni when they came up with the idea for their business, which is now Australia’s fastest growing quick service restaurant. Nathan Dalah and Nic Pestalozzi are two of the three founders of Fishbowl, the Japanese inspired salad bar on a mission to change the culture of fast food with their healthy salad bowls. They launched their first store in 2016 in the middle of winter, and by spring they were selling over 500 bowls a day.Now Fishbowl has expanded to 28 locations with 300 employees and they’re now expanding their hospitality venture with a new venue called Fish Shop - a fine-dining experience with a chef driven menu of sustainable seafood. I ask Nic and Nathan how they’ve scaled the Fishbowl empire so rapidly and why good company culture is so important to the success of the business.Join the Facebook Group.Follow Mark Bouris on Instagram, LinkedIn & YouTube. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hiam Sakakini is the Founder and CEO of The Culture Equation, a boutique management consultancy that specialised in creating high performing culture within organisations. Hiam grew up, studied and worked among vastly different cultures around the world, before working in the leadership team at Google for 10 years and seeing firsthand the importance of culture and good leadership in the workplace.2020 saw businesses trying to navigate the uncertainty of Covid, so Hiam’s team created a bespoke program to supercharge businesses by developing high performing cultures able to lead through any crisis. I ask Hiam how the last year has shown the importance of good leadership and motivating teams in uncertain times, why company culture is so important and what distinguishes good from great management.Join the Facebook Group.Follow Mark Bouris on Instagram, LinkedIn & YouTube. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Anthony Welsh has seen first-hand just how much the transportation landscape has changed over the last year. He is the Director of Popcar, a car-sharing service that operates across NSW, Victoria and the ACT. Anthony started PopCar in 2016 after seeing where trends in commuting were, to allow people to rent a communal car by the hour and only pay for the time used.Over the last year the business experienced a surge in bookings, with people looking for safe alternatives to avoid public transport. I ask Anthony why community support for the business has boomed and how he sees the future of PopCar evolving as Australians think differently about the value of sustainability and the sharing economy. Join the Facebook Group.Follow Mark Bouris on Instagram, LinkedIn & YouTube. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My guest today left his successful career in advertising to set up his business after realising his passion for the ethics and origin of food. Cameron Romeril is the Founder and CEO of Soda Press Co, who create organic soda, cocktail and mixer syrups that aren't made with artificial ingredients and full of sugar. Soda Press Co. has now spread beyond Australia to 19 countries and all their products are end-to-end plastic free, organic and manufactured right here in Australia. I ask Cameron where his passion for provenance and health based products came from, and how important sustainability is to the success of his Soda Press Co.Join the Facebook Group.Follow Mark Bouris on Instagram, LinkedIn & YouTube. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After working as a model and producer since the age of 15, Taryn Williams was frustrated by the inefficiencies in the industry, with late payment common practice and jobs few and far between. So at the age of 21, she founded WINK Models with the company policy to pay all models within seven days, and include diversity in the representation. The business was completely bootstrapped and WINK now has over 650 talent nationally.Taryn quickly realised how important technology was to directly connect creative talent with brands and agencies. So she created her second business – The Right Fit, a marketplace of over 9000 influencers, models, actors and photographers all in one place, to make booking a creative campaign easy and cost effective. I ask Taryn how both WINK and The Right Fit aim to revolutionise the creative industry, how this year has affected her businesses with an accelerated shift towards digital, and how they deliver value and convenience to both their creative talent and clients.Join the Facebook Group.Follow Mark Bouris on Instagram, LinkedIn & YouTube. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If this year has shown us anything, it’s that mobility, flexibility and understanding your customer are essential to any successful business. Customer loyalty is hard to win and you can’t get it by just offering a great product – you must create amazing experiences around your brand as well. So today I’m speaking to a guest who knows a lot about investing in customer care, establishing loyalty in your customer base and leveraging technology to redefine mobility, and that is Scott Thompson, CEO of Lexus Australia. I ask Scott how the Lexus brand thinks differently when it comes to creating consumer satisfaction in an ever-changing environment, how they're ahead of the curve in creating luxury experiences for their customers, and how you can apply these principles to your own business.Join the Facebook Group.Follow Mark Bouris on Instagram, LinkedIn & YouTube. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.