Best CSIRO Podcasts (2025)

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#229 Jack Zhang: The Relentless Founder of Airwallex — From Rural China to Melbourne Bartender to Building a $5B Powerhouse 54:24

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5d ago54:24

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Episode #229 of The High Flyers Podcast features Jack Zhang, Co-Founder and CEO of Airwallex, one of the world’s fastest-growing fintech companies valued at over $5 billion. Born in rural Shandong, China, Jack moved to Melbourne at 15, juggling multiple jobs while studying computer science before launching Airwallex in 2015. A former engineer and t…

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#228 Sam Wong: The Blackbird Partner Redefining VC — Lessons on Identity, Courage and Building a Venture Fund While Pregnant 1:01:31

12d ago1:01:31

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Episode #228 of The High Flyers Podcast features Sam Wong, General Partner at Blackbird Ventures, one of the leading Venture Capital firms and the first investor in Canva. Born in Perth to Malaysian-Chinese and British-Indian parents, Sam went from packing Sound Blaster boxes to building Blackbird’s New Zealand fund while five months pregnant. A fo…

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#227 Richard Joffe: The Founder Who Wouldn’t Quit — 3 Startups, 300 Rejections, a Divorce, and a $1B+ Legacy 56:00

18d ago56:00

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By Vidit Agarwal

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#226 Bharat Sundaresan: From Heavy Metal Dreams in India to Flamboyant Cricket Journalism—Loved by Fans and Players 1:13:24

26d ago1:13:24

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Episode #226 of The High Flyers Podcast features Bharat Sundaresan, award-winning cricket commentator, writer and storyteller. Based in Adelaide, he’s covered cricket worldwide for over 18 years and is a regular media voice on shows from ABC Breakfast to The Project. Known for his flamboyant style, Bharat was profiled on ABC’s Australian Story in 2…

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#225 Andrew Penn: The Untold Story of Telstra’s CEO — High School Dropout, Art, Scorecards and Calm Leadership 1:13:30

1M ago1:13:30

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Episode #225 of The High Flyers Podcast features Andrew Penn, Recent CEO of Telstra (2015–2022) and Group CEO of AXA Asia Pacific. Today, he chairs Visit Victoria, sits on the Coles board, and advises Government on cybersecurity and national security. In this conversation, Andy reflects on dropping out of high school and working two jobs before stu…

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#224 Chris Wirasinha: Building Pedestrian TV & Linkby, Navigating AI in Publishing, Raising Two Kids & unpacking "GEO" 1:19:00

1M ago1:19:00

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Episode #224 features Chris Wirasinha, co-founder of Linkby — the Performance PR platform used by 3,800+ brands and 600 publishers, backed by US$15m in funding and growing 100% YoY across the US & UK. Previously, Chris co-founded Pedestrian Group at 21, scaling it to 100 staff, a ~$100m valuation and an exit to Channel Nine. +++ To support this pod…

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#223 Lisa Sthalekar: Being adopted as a newborn in India to becoming a Hall of Fame Cricketer 59:41

2M ago59:41

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Episode #223 features Lisa Sthalekar — 4x World Cup Winner and Inductee into both the ICC and Australian Cricket Halls of Fame, recognised as one of the most influential figures in the history of women’s cricket (the first woman to have scored over 1000 runs and taken 100 wickets). +++ This episode is part of a special series in partnership with th…

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#222 Tim Thomas: From Melbourne to Asia to Canberra; Leading Australia’s India Strategy and the $10 Trillion Opportunity Ahead 1:12:02

2M ago1:12:02

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Tim Thomas is the recent CEO of the Centre for Australia-India Relations, the federal body set up by the Australian Government to deepen ties between the two nations across business, technology, education, sport, and culture. With a career spanning senior roles at AXA, Prudential, and KPMG, and lived experience building businesses across India, Sin…

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#221 Kelly Vohs: SafetyCulture's CEO on becoming a US Army Green Beret, Inverted Pyramid Leadership and Building for 100M Workers 1:13:28

2M ago1:13:28

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Kelly Vohs is the CEO of SafetyCulture, a globally renowned tech company headquartered in Australia. Valued at approximately $2.5 billion, its platform serves 85,000+ organisations across 180+ countries, including major global brands like Toyota, GE, Coles, Qantas, Schneider Electric, Marriott, John Deere, Sodexo, National Health Service (UK), Brit…

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127: Hysterectomy | 4 Weeks Post Op Update 25:35

2M ago25:35

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Reaching the four-week milestone in my hysterectomy recovery journey feels like crossing an important threshold. In this episode, I discuss the remarkable physical transformation that has occurred – pain has decreased significantly, mobility has improved dramatically, and my energy levels have surged. Simple movements that caused discomfort just tw…

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#220 Trent Cotchin: One of AFL’s All-time greats on Staying Grounded and Leading Richmond Tigers to 3 Premierships! 1:10:12

2M ago1:10:12

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Trent Cotchin is Richmond’s three-time premiership captain, 2012 Brownlow Medallist and one of the AFL’s most respected leaders. Across 16 years and 306 games, Trent led the Tigers from decades of struggle into a golden era, lifting the premiership cup in 2017, 2019 and 2020. He shares lessons on resilience, leadership, and balancing elite sport wi…

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#219 Orica’s CEO Sanjeev Gandhi: Mumbai to Germany, Japan & Australia — Breaking Barriers for Indian Leaders 1:09:38

2M ago1:09:38

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Episode #219 features Sanjeev Gandhi, Managing Director and CEO of Orica — a Melbourne-headquartered global leader in mining and infrastructure solutions. Sanjeev spent 26 years with BASF, where he held senior positions including Head of Asia Pacific and member of the Global Board of Directors, becoming the first Indian to serve in these roles. He …

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126: Hysterectomy | 2 Weeks Post Op Update 48:06

3M ago48:06

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The unexpected sight of blood when you're eight years post-menopause can trigger immediate alarm bells. That's exactly what happened to me in September 2024, launching me on a journey that ultimately led to having a hysterectomy at age 55. This very personal episode takes you through my complete hysterectomy experience – from the shocking discovery…

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#218 How Husband-Wife Duo Pip & Amy Turned Redundancy & AI Into "Springboards"- Raising $5M to Inspire Creativity 1:23:14

3M ago1:23:14

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Pip & Amy are the co-founders of Springboards -- an AI platform built for agencies, by agency veterans. They are also Husband and wife, ex-agency misfits and self described - accidental founders. From media roles in Sydney to creative gigs in San Francisco, with stints at Twitter, Shopify, and deep dives into Web3. When COVID hit, redundancy and a …

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#217 Elena Verna: Leading Growth at Lovable (the World’s Fastest-Growing Startup today, Reaching $100M in 8 Months) 1:36:39

3M ago1:36:39

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Elena Verna is a renowned growth advisor to tech startups, and currently heads Growth at Lovable, one of the fastest growing tech startups globally -- where she helped the AI-native company reach $80M ARR in under seven months with a lean team. Previously, she held senior roles at world leading technology companies such as SurveyMonkey, Miro, Ampli…

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#216 Max Marchione: Escaping the Sandpit, Defying Credentials, How "Superpower" Is Redefining Healthcare (His Most In-Depth Interview Yet) 1:24:35

3M ago1:24:35

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Max Marchione is the co-founde of Superpower, a San Francisco-based digital clinic making preventative, longevity-focused medicine accessible to millions. At just 25, Max has raised a $30M (USD) Series A and is building a healthcare super-app powered by AI, biomarkers, and proactive care. He is also one of the most fascinating people, our host Vidi…

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#215 Brendan Hargreaves: Officeworks CFO on Quiet Influence & Finance Mastery in public and private companies 1:07:38

3M ago1:07:38

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Brendan Hargreaves is the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Officeworks, a $3B+ business with over 170 stores and 8,000+ team members. Previously, he held senior commercial and financial roles at Qantas ($17B+ revenue), Coles (800+ stores), Cleanaway (5,000+ employees), Village Roadshow, and The Warehouse Group (NZX: WHS, ~$3B market cap). Brendan i…

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#214 Simon Molnar: Jewellery store learnings to building Afterpay with his brother Nick and now redefining retail with Flagship 1:16:25

4M ago1:16:25

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Simon Molnar is the founder and CEO of Flagship, the startup helping retailers use data to optimise their physical stores. Previously, he co-founded Ice Jewellery and led data and marketing at Afterpay, the $39 billion fintech company co-founded by his brother, Nick Molnar, which was acquired by Square (now Block) in 2021. Raised in Sydney, he now …

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#213 Dr. Bec Sheean: FightMND’s Research Director on Beating Motor Neurone Disease + AFL, Beanies & Big Freeze 1:10:49

4M ago1:10:49

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Dr Bec Sheean is the Director of Research and Programs at FightMND, leading strategy across all funded research and initiatives to accelerate progress against Motor Neurone Disease. With a PhD in neuroscience and a Graduate Certificate in Clinical Research, she champions collaborative, translational science. Bec chairs the International Research Di…

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#212 Shannon Scott: Leading product at Airwallex globally, Small-Town Skiing, Building Palantir outside the US as employee #100 1:22:43

4M ago1:22:43

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Shannon Scott is the Senior Vice President, Global Head of Product at Airwallex, and Executive Director of Airwallex's Australia and New Zealand business entities. Shannon is responsible for Airwallex's product strategy and roadmap, spanning financial infrastructure, business software, and embedded finance solutions. Prior to Airwallex, Shannon was…

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#211 How Go1 Promotes From Within ft. their CEO, SVP Marketing & VP Product (Playbooks Report Feature) 1:04:28

4M ago1:04:28

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This episode is part of our recently released Startup Playbooks Report -- unpacking the playbooks of 9 of Australia’s fastest-growing startups and scale ups for the first time. Thanks to the report sponsors - Google Cloud, Vanta and Notion. Read the Playbooks Report here: http://playbooksreport.com/ In this conversation, we go inside Go1's playbook…

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#210 Heidi's US & UK Expansion — Lessons from the Startup Growing Faster Than Canva (Playbooks Report Feature) 1:06:27

4M ago1:06:27

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This episode is part of our recently released Startup Playbooks Report -- unpacking the playbooks of 9 of Australia’s fastest-growing startups and scale ups for the first time. Thanks to the report sponsors - Google Cloud, Vanta and Notion. In this conversation, we go deep into Heidi's global expansion journey: how they’ve grown from Australia into…

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125: CSIRO Menopause Plan: Science-Backed Nutrition for Midlife 26:40

5M ago26:40

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As the head of health programs at CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet, Nicole Pritchard shares how their new Menopause Plan leverages a decade of research to address the unique nutritional needs of perimenopausal and menopausal women. At the heart of the program is a powerful yet simple nutritional philosophy: emphasise high-quality protein, choose low glyc…

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#209 Andrew McCarthy: Leading Notion in SEA, India, AU/NZ; Rowing, Grandfather's influence, Learning Sales at LinkedIn 1:13:56

5M ago1:13:56

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Andrew is the General Manager (GM) for Australia/New Zealand, South East Asia and India at Notion. With over 20 years of sales and sales leadership experience — including helping launch LinkedIn in Asia Pacific — he’s played a key role in scaling some of the world’s fastest-growing tech companies. Outside of work, Andrew is a proud dad of three and…

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124: Critical gaps in Indigenous menopause care with Prof Odette Best 29:26

5M ago29:26

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When Professor Odette Best, Pro Vice-Chancellor (First Nations Strategy) at UniSQ discovered she was experiencing perimenopausal symptoms, she turned to her healthcare provider for answers, only to find a glaring absence of research, resources, and support specifically designed for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women. "The last lot of resea…

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#208 Simon Baume: Raised on Logic, Hardened by Chaos — The Eucalyptus COO’s First-Ever Interview 1:25:44

5M ago1:25:44

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Simon Baume is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Eucalyptus, a global healthtech company valued at over $500 million and backed by Investors including Blackbird and Bond. Eucalyptus builds digital preventative healthcare clinics and serves hundreds of thousands of patients across Australia, the UK, Japan and more. Simon leads their Australian bu…

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123: The Beauty of Aging: A Conversation with Elizabeth Barbalich from Antipodes Skincare 25:09

5M ago25:09

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What if your menopause journey could be a celebration of your skin's resilience rather than a battle against it? Elizabeth Barbalich, founder and CEO of Antipodes Skincare, shares this refreshing perspective as she joins us to discuss how natural ingredients can address the unique challenges of menopausal skin. From her kitchen table to a global br…

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#207 Craig Tiley: Rare Interview Ft. Tennis Australia CEO on Army Lessons, Leading the Australian Open, and Tennis’s Future 1:12:13

5M ago1:12:13

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Craig Tiley is the CEO of Tennis Australia and long-time Tournament Director of the Australian Open — the largest annual sporting event in the Southern Hemisphere and the most-watched global sporting event each January, with over 14,000 staff, 800 players, and 2.5 billion viewers worldwide. This is one of Craig’s most personal and rare long-form in…

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122: Hot Take with Sonya and Johanna 33:08

5M ago33:08

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A captivating conversation between Sonya and Jo explores the rapidly evolving landscape of menopause healthcare, research, and politics in Australia. In this episode we begin by unpacking the viral podcast between Dr. Rachel Rubin and Dr. Peter Attia – a two-and-a-half hour deep dive into menopause, vaginal health and GSM that's being celebrated as…

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#206 Employment Hero’s Ben Thompson: Business builder, Demistifying Employment and His Son’s Rare Disease 1:22:49

5M ago1:22:49

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Ben Thompson is the Co-Founder and CEO of Employment Hero — one of Australia’s most successful tech companies, valued at over A$2 billion and used by more than 300,000 businesses worldwide. Before that, he bootstrapped multiple companies, blending legal expertise with product thinking to build tools for employers. In this candid long-form public in…

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121: Breakups in Midlife: When Menopause Reshapes Your Relationship 41:20

5M ago41:20

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What happens to marriages and long-term relationships during menopause? Clinical psychologist Kirstin Bouse returns to the podcast to tackle this powerful question, revealing why 70% of midlife breakups are initiated by women. The menopause transition triggers not just hormonal changes but profound psychological shifts. Neuroplasticity during this …

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#205 Gill Findlay: Rare Interview ft. the Powerhouse COO Behind SafetyCulture & Immutable; Career Planning & "Friend" over title 1:25:21

6M ago1:25:21

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Gill Findlay is the former COO of SafetyCulture and Immutable — two of most influential tech companies globally to originate from Australia. She scaled SafetyCulture from

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120: Your Brain During Menopause with Dr Jen Hacker Pearson 36:59

6M ago36:59

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Your brain is undergoing a massive renovation during menopause, and Neuroscientist Dr Jennifer Hacker Pearson is here to help you understand the how and why. With nearly three decades studying neuroplasticity, the brain's ability to change itself, Dr Jen offers revolutionary insights into why perimenopause affects every woman differently and how yo…

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#204 Miro’s Founder Andrey Khusid (LIVE): Rare Interview — Scaling from Whiteboard Tool to $17.5B Giant with 90M+ users 59:08

6M ago59:08

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Andrey Khusid is the founder and CEO of Miro, the world’s leading visual collaboration platform used by 90M+ users with $400M+ in ARR and a $17.5B valuation. *** Sponsor offers just for you: -> Find out more about Vanta's special offer exclusively for you at https://vanta.com/high and get a special offer of $1,000 off to access your very own compli…

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119: The Testosterone Access Gap No One's Talking About 10:24

6M ago10:24

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We need to talk about the glaring inequity in Australian healthcare that's affecting millions of women. After 18 months on menopause hormone therapy, testosterone has transformed my life, restoring my vitality, sharpening my focus, lifting my mood, and reawakening my sexuality. Yet accessing this life-changing treatment reveals a troubling gender b…

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#203 Airtasker’s CEO Tim Fung: Asian-Australian Roots, Happiness, Formula 1 sponsorships, and public company realities 1:12:46

6M ago1:12:46

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Tim Fung is the founder and CEO of Airtasker, the leading local services marketplace with over $1.7 billion in job creation and a community of more than 2 million users. Since launching in 2012, Tim has scaled Airtasker from a Sydney startup to a publicly listed company on the ASX, expanding into the UK and US with a bold media-for-equity model and…

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118: Postmenopausal Bleeding: Causes, Concerns, and When to Seek Help 14:32

6M ago14:32

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Postmenopausal bleeding can be an alarming experience, especially when you've gone years without a period. What causes this unexpected bleeding? When should you be concerned? Dr Ceri Cashell joins me to demystify this common but often distressing symptom. We dive into the definition of postmenopausal bleeding - any bleeding that occurs after 12 mon…

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117: Weight Loss, Hormones and Metabolic Health with Dr Lucy Burns 52:27

6M ago52:27

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Have you ever wondered why weight creeps on during menopause, despite your best efforts? Dr Lucy Burns pulls back the curtain on what she calls the "metabolic triad of menopause" – a perfect storm of declining estrogen, rising cortisol, and increasing insulin resistance that creates the ideal conditions for stubborn weight gain. As a GP who retrain…

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#202 Brad Banducci: Woolworths CEO in a Rare Interview on Identity, Intrapreneurship & Why Directionally Correct Beats Perfect 1:09:23

6M ago1:09:23

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Brad Banducci is the Former CEO of Woolworths Group and the newly appointed CEO of TEG (The parent company of Ticketek and SXSW). His career spans consulting at BCG, early-stage leadership at Tyro Payments, and senior roles at Cellarmasters and Woolworths, bringing together deep experience across startups, retail, private equity and transformation.…

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116: ENCORE: ADHD, Autism and the Menopausal Brain 38:06

7M ago38:06

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The relationship between menopause and neurodivergence remains largely unexplored territory in women's health—until now. In this groundbreaking conversation, neuropsychologist A/Professor Caroline Gurvich shares fascinating insights into why cognitive symptoms during perimenopause may signal more than just typical hormone fluctuations. For many wom…

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#201 Carol Schwartz: Pioneering Philanthropy, Driving Boardroom Change, Founding The Women's Leadership Institute & Raising 4 Kids with Purpose 42:59

7M ago42:59

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Sponsor offers just for you: -> Find out more about Vanta's special offer exclusively for you at https://vanta.com/high and get a special offer of $1,000 off to access your very own compliance superpower for your business today. -> Get 3 months free of Notion Plus with unlimited AI — exclusive to High Flyers Podcast listeners. That’s over $3K in va…

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115: Creatine, Blood Tests & Supplement Hype with Sarah Gray 45:51

7M ago45:51

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Supplement confusion is at an all-time high, with social media feeds flooded with miracle promises targeting menopausal women. But how do you know what you actually need, what works, and what's just expensive snake oil? Pharmacist and nutritionist Sarah Gray brings her dual expertise to this conversation, offering practical guidance for navigating …

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#200 Malcolm Turnbull: Australia's Former Prime Minister (in his most in-depth interview ever) 1:03:50

7M ago1:03:50

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Malcolm Turnbull, is a former Australian Prime Minister and one of the most fascinating public figures of our time. He built a global career spanning law, media, business, and tech. He and his wife, Lucy won the Spycatcher case against the British government that rose him to prominence, He was Kerry Packer's Lawyer for many years, and then an inves…

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114: ENCORE | Heavy Periods: The Silent Epidemic with Dr Talat Uppal 29:13

7M ago29:13

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In this popular episode, Dr. Talat Uppal, an obstetrician-gynecologist specialising in heavy menstrual bleeding, shares her expertise on a condition affecting one in four women yet rarely discussed openly. This eye-opening conversation sheds light on how women often normalise suffering through periods that drastically impact their quality of life. …

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#199 Farnaz Azmoodeh: Iran to LA, Mastering Engineering at Google, Monetising Snapchat, and becoming CTO at Linktree 1:10:49

7M ago1:10:49

1:10:49

Farnaz is the CTO at Linktree, a platform with 70M+ users helping creators and businesses unify and monetise their online presence. She started at Google in the 2000s during their OG era, working on ad tech and ML, then joined Snap (375M+ daily users today), leading AR monetization and later platform engineering. This is a rare public interview wit…

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113: Hot Take with Sonya and Johanna 41:36

7M ago41:36

41:36

Updates on the rapidly changing landscape of menopause care in Australia and globally, focusing on revolutionary PBS changes making hormone therapy more affordable and the growing momentum around women's health initiatives. • Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) now includes Estrogel, Prometrium, and Estrogel Pro (as of March 1st), with Slinder joi…

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#198 Max Bausher & Brian Swift: From Twitter, Atlassian & New Relic to Twine - Cracking Product + GTM by Turning Customer Conversations into Action 1:16:02

7M ago1:16:02

1:16:02

Max Bausher and Brian are the Co-Founders of Twine, bridging product and go-to-market teams by integrating insights across calls, CRM, and roadmaps. Max, Twine’s COO, brings expertise from leadership roles at CrowdStrike and New Relic, specialising in technical-business alignment. Brian, Twine’s CEO, has led product and GTM teams at SafetyCulture, …

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112: Sex Doesn't End at Menopause with Laura Lee 40:58

8M ago40:58

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What happens to our sexuality during menopause? Far from signalling an end to pleasure and intimacy, this transition offers an unexpected opportunity for sexual rediscovery and deeper connection. Psychologist and sexologist Laura Lee joins me in this episode to masterfully unpack the evolution of desire through midlife, challenging our cultural fix…

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#197 Rory San Miguel: 40-Hour Weekends, Building Propeller, Winning Enterprise Deals, Going Global—And the Secret Behind His Relentless Optimism 1:23:09

8M ago1:23:09

1:23:09

Rory San Miguel is the co-founder and CEO of Propeller, a global tech company transforming worksites with drone data. Since 2014, he’s scaled Propeller to 300+ employees across Australia and the U.S., secured well known enterprise customers, and raised over $35M from investors like Blackbird and Costanoa Ventures to fuel international growth. This …

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111: Cancer Recovery Isn’t a Straight Line: A Conversation on Expectations with Shari Todd 36:11

8M ago36:11

36:11

How do you navigate life after cancer when everything feels different? Join me for a raw discussion that dives deep into the emotional and physical realities of cancer recovery. In this episode, Shari Todd and I share similarities in our vulnerable journeys through cancer diagnosis, treatment, and what life looks like on the other side. And what it…