Lessons from Real People 01-13
So, what have we learnt from seven weeks interviewing and sharing 13 Episodes of our new podcast ‘Real People?’ So much.
Thank you to our guests!
In such a small time we are quite pleased to have attracted 1,160+ listeners of our 13 (soon 14) episodes. 71% of our listeners have come from across Australia and 29% from across the world, which is nice.
Our top five countries beyond Australia, are the US (11%), India (8% – especially Mumbai), Sweden, the UK and Greece, with listeners also coming from Denmark, Switzerland, China et cetera.
This has largely come from having insightful and respected overseas based guests doing amazing things, and globally travelling local guests, with strong social media networks, keen to share their interviews with friends and followers. With this, many of our episodes have larger social shares and listens from audiences overseas than within Australia.
Copenhagen based Neuroscientist Dr Elvira Fischer. New York – London (with offices in São Paulo and Singapore) Consumer Insight Agency MESH Experience CEO Fiona Blades. Chicago based Kristi Zuhlke, the CEO / Founder of Knowledge Hound, a global tech company working with brands as diverse as Spotify, lyft, Procter & Gamble and Whirlpool.
Washington DC based Dr Phillip Alvelda, artificial intelligence innovator, technologist and educator. Finland based André Noël Chaker, author of acclaimed books including the Finnish Miracle. And, Los Angeles based Robert Tercek, one of the world’s most prolific creators of interactive content, a ground breaking pioneer in digital media since the early 1990’s and author of the Vaporized. And, UK based market research guru Ray Poynter.
Our guests closer to home are also globally trotting. Adelaide South Australia based Suhit Anantula works between Australia and India. Adelaide based Martin Read provides a global perspective having just returned from two years as Managing Partner for Deloitte Digital South East Asia. Adelaide based Dr Fiona Kerr travels between Australia, Europe and the US advising high level corporate and government on neuroscience of human-to-human and human-to-technology interaction and associated topics. Polar explored Tim Jarvis AM is based in Adelaide but travels the world, speaking and exploring and working on his latest project www.25zero.com. Plus the global perspectives of locals Kristina Dryza (ex-Adelaide, now Sydney traveling the world), Lucinda Roberts and Aboriginal Leader Mickey O’Brien. And, coming in the next day or so, now Adelaide based ex-New York Craig Swann, the man behind Looplabs, a free online music making community platform.
It has been great to get a global perspective on culture and tech, as well as to subtly spread the world of our home city of Adelaide South Australia from locals doing amazing things, and visitors going ‘wow!’
But, Real People is not about Adelaide, nor Australia, but about people, culture, and why people do what they do and think what they think, and a whole lot of other interesting bits. All guests have had wide outward looking and thinking perspectives and the vast majority are globally travelling individuals with wonderful understanding of cultural and people trends, technology etc. And, willingness to be candid.
The interviews have provided an invaluable mirror up to the reality of Australia from an outsider’s perspective. Are we actually far less innovative than we think!? Or, as Kristi said, our happy culture (as she perceives it) should be the perfect environment for successful start ups. But, perhaps as Ray Poynter, André Noël Chaker and others have said, is our uniquely Australian tall poppy syndrome, ‘middle aged’ entrepreneurial flab, lack of drive and overly comfortable lay back culture, leaving us left behind (without us even realising it)? As, Suhit Anantula noted, places like India are leap frogging Australia in many ways. What do you think?
The guests have provided an important reminder that we need to retain our childlike characteristics, and that most successful people were not perfect school students, but were curious, imaginative explorers, with a hunger to learn and question the norm.
“I think I retained that sense of inquisitiveness into adulthood, and I’m just a big kid really at heart, and I retain a kind of idealism that things can be changed for the better as well, which is a childlike characteristic that I’ve continued into adulthood.” Tim Jarvis AM on Real People (plus in podcast blog article ‘Adulting and not growing up boring‘)
There is generally much that can be seen in our guests that came from their childhood. And, we hear many pieces of advice for young people to live a success life – take opportunities big and small, and do not be in too much of a rush to lock in a career. Retain the curiosity and realise that it has never been easier to start a business and make an impact.
And, respect that while artificial intelligence advances will continue to dramatically change our world and how we live and work, it is not about if but when, it is critical that humans embrace their uniqueness and do not become robots in how they think and behave.
“Humans are really excellent at context and extrapolations. The big difference is abstraction, humans abstract. We’re able to take disparate information from all different kinds of places and make connections that seem completely big jumps. They are to do with a really interesting mixed bag of context and experience and imagination, and creativity. Which turns on multiple parts of our brain at once.” Dr Fiona Kerr on Real People and on podcast inspired blog article ‘Are the robots becoming human, or the humans becoming robots?‘
In our just gone seven weeks since launching we’ve shared 800 minutes of fascinating, inspiring discussions (13+ hours) – 75% listened on a phone; 61% on an Apple iPhone / iPad (53%) or Laptop / desktop (8%); and 52% on the Apple iPhone build in podcast App. Please put your headphones on while walking to or at work, and let the wisdom soak in.
It certainly has been a learning experience, but we are pretty pleased to get started, and gain momentum. Ever evolving the format and skill, with fewer “ums” and “yeps” and mind fades every episode, and increasing sense of playfulness and experimentation. We are so grateful of the high calibre of guests. So far all have been done face-to-face everywhere from Square Holes’ funky orange cube Adelaide CBD HQ, to hotel lobbies and corner couches just about anywhere. Skype is likely to come, but the face-to-face human connection is best, so much more travel is on the horizon, and excuse to do so.
More great episodes coming, and please let us know what you think. We’d love any thoughts on guests or topics to explore. mail@squareholes.com or via social media.
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TOP 5 so far in order (to click direct to episode on iTunes) …
#02 Suhit Anantula, Partner, Business Models Inc – Six Blind Men and the Elephant
#05 – André Noël Chaker, Author of the Finnish Miracle – Building a Strong Culture
#03 – Kristina Dryza, Global Consumer Trends Expert – Surfing the Waves
Although the leader board is extremely close across all episodes.
Episode #14 Craig Swann ‘Award winning Music Technology Vet / Founder @ Looplabs / Free online music making for Everyone’ will hopefully be up in the next 24 hours! And, it’s another cracker.
Please subscribe, tell your friends and leave a (5 star) review. Really don’t wish to beg, but it all helps our rankings, and ability to keep getting stellar global guests from the US, Europe, Australia and beyond. Please. 😀
Please subscribe, listen, share and leave a (5 STAR) review (please).
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