The Mentor with Mark Bouris

One industry that has boomed this year is horticulture, with people spending more time working on their garden, reaping the benefits of sustainable living and the ‘do it yourself’ ethos. Simon Holloway is the Marketing and Sales Director of Vegepod, a self-watering, portable garden bed company helping people grow their own food at home. Following their win on Shark Tank in 2016, Vegepod’s success has spread beyond Australia to 19 countries.Early on in the business, Simon lived out of the back of his van, driving across the country to introduce the product to garden centres. Fast-forward to operating during the pandemic and they’ve had their best year on record, with a 500% increase in sales. I ask Simon how Vegepod dealt with the challenge of not being able to keep up with that demand and why easy edible gardening has proven to be a favourite at-home activity.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.

Don Robertson and Matilda Murray are the co-owners of STAX, a fashion-forward, premium activewear brand for all shapes and sizes. This year STAX had a surge of new business as people started to work - and work out - from home, and demand for comfortable clothing boomed. So much so that during lockdown, STAX released a collection of activewear that earned them $150,000 in just seven minutes.They had the right product for the right time and 2020 has been STAX best year to date, with 2000% growth. I ask Don and Matilda how they’ve created such a strong brand following, how their business has leveraged the visual impact of social media and what it's really like to be a couple running a business together.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.

Today's guest is proof that a great product, the ability to adapt and evolve, and a strong community around you can really make a business thrive, even in challenging times. Ed West is the owner of Poho Flowers, a Sydney florist that offers a premium retail experience as well as an online store, and creates contemporary floral arrangements for weddings, offices and hotels.In March this year, when all event and corporate work evaporated, Ed focused on ramping up their online retail and reaching new customers who were looking for ways to brighten up their homes. I ask Ed how his business has leveraged the visual impact of social media to create brand recognition and why community support for the business has boomed with people looking for new ways to work together and support each other.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.

Simon Griffiths is the co-founder and CEO of Who Gives a Crap, a toilet paper subscription startup that builds toilets in the developing world. Simon launched the business in 2012 with a crowdfunding campaign where he live-streamed himself sitting on a toilet for 50 hours, which attracted global media attention and generated 2.5 million social media hits. Since launching, Who Gives A Crap has tripled in size year-on-year, largely relying on word-of-mouth to fuel its growth.This year they had an incredible 1000% spike in sales due to Covid-induced panic buying and have donated nearly $6 million to charities that provide access to clean water and sanitation in developing countries. I ask Simon how in many ways 2020 has been the perfect storm for Who Gives a Crap, in terms of the demand for the product, the fact that they’re a direct to consumer business and that the company was set up to allow the team to work remotely, and how he has democratised philanthropy through his 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.

Joe Darling is the Founder and owner of The Pottery Shed, a studio workshop with everything you need to create handmade pottery. Born and raised in California, Joe got interested in creating objects with clay while at school. He retrained as a Police officer with the US Army and was deployed to Europe, but maintained his pottery skills and in 2016 started The Pottery Shed.When restrictions came in around Covid19, Joe created an At-Home Pottery program for people to hire a kit of the materials and his team delivered supplies, collected and returned completed projects direct to people’s homes. I ask Joe how he adapted his offering to keep his business afloat, how the structure of military life has influenced his business and why the meditative process of creating with clay is something we could all use in our lives.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 this week has a career spanning over 30 years in the Australian food industry - dozens of awards, TV shows like MasterChef and My Restaurant Rules and best-selling cookbooks to his name, and owns some of Australia’s most celebrated restaurants and bars. Yep, it’s safe to say that Matt Moran is an Aussie food icon. Like all hospitality venues, Matt’s restaurants were hit hard by the restrictions around Covid19. So Matt quickly adapted to sell home-delivered boxes of fruit and veg, taking customers through the preparation and cooking process of his recipes via livestream, and capitalising on people’s time at home in the kitchen. I ask Matt how growing up on a farm taught him the discipline he needed to start his own business and what hard work and success mean to him.Join the Facebook Group.Follow Mark Bouris on Instagram, LinkedIn & YouTube. Got a question or comment for Mark? Send an email. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

One thing that’s become clearer than ever this year is that brand authenticity and consistency as well as being able to adapt and evolve are essential in business. Someone who knows a lot about creating authenticity through brave design and innovation for the future is Ian Cartabiano, President of Toyota Europe Design Development, who is responsible for the progressive direction of Lexus vehicle design. When it comes to pushing boundaries in design to create highly technical and futuristic cars, Lexus are ahead of the curve. I ask Ian how the Lexus brand consistently appeals to their customers through design and craftsmanship, the importance of evolving into the future through innovation and how to apply these principles to any 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.

Daniel Hakim is the founder and CEO of CUB, Australia’s fastest growing community of established entrepreneurs and business leaders focused on a common goal – to help each other succeed by sharing their knowledge and experience. Daniel launched his business in 2015 when he was just 23, after being kicked out of two universities and deciding he wanted to make a difference in the world of business and networking. CUB venues offer a range of networking services to help members make their ambitions a reality, through access to an incredible group of business minds. This year has seen CUB’s business model get better, their team get stronger and the brand’s digital presence elevate despite the challenges 2020 has presented. I ask Daniel about the importance of networking in the business world and how this year has made CUB’s offering more relevant than ever.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 is a great example of how to take a problem and create a purposeful business that drives positive change for everyday people. Lisa Hollinshead is the founder and CEO of One Another Community, a platform that connects skilled professionals who have pro bono capacity with those who need help in their local community, both in response to COVID-19 and as a longer-term solution to address the global loneliness epidemic. Lisa came up with the idea for the business in March this year when she was stranded in Spain, and wanted to create a social kindness platform for members of local communities to request and offer assistance. I ask Lisa how founding her business in 2020 ensured an agile and reactive start-up, and why One Another's mission to amplify the ripple effect of kindness and empower anyone to make a difference, is more important than ever.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.

Aussie twin brothers Chris and Cameron Grant are pioneering the concept of ‘wilderness on demand’ and inviting stressed out office workers to get out of the city and experience the bush, through their accommodation start-up Unyoked. They build and design tiny, solar-powered and mostly phone-signal-free cabins in previously inaccessible locations no more than two hours from major cities around Australia. Their philosophy is that disconnecting from modern stresses and going back to simplicity is the perfect way to recharge for people stuck in the 9-5 cycle. And Matthew McConaughey clearly agrees, because he jumped on board to design a cabin with Unyoked just last year. 2020 proved to be a challenging year for their business – first with the bushfires and floods, and then of course through Covid19, when their Victorian cabins have been completely non-operational. I ask Chris and Cam how this year has made their offering more relevant than ever, and how they’re working with a captive travel market who at the moment can’t go overseas and are looking to explore their own backyard. 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.