The "Level Up" with Duayne Pearce Podcast
I take on the role of an authoritative voice that fearlessly communicates truths drawn directly from my lived experiences. With a genuine sense of ownership, my insights are free from any hidden agendas – they truly belong to the audience. My stories and journey add remarkable value, the key now lies in harnessing its power effectively to help others.
My purpose is to create a new residential building industry. My mission is to inspire unshakable self-confidence in my colleagues in the industry, empowering them to orchestrate prosperous, enduring, and lucrative businesses that bring exceptional projects to fruition for our clients.
My goal is to foster a deeper comprehension among clients about the identity and functions of builders, redefining their perceptions.
The "Level Up" with Duayne Pearce Podcast
Health, Wealth, and Leadership Lessons From 50 Years In Business.
#143 Jamie Hayes shares his journey from insurance industry worker to fitness pioneer and how a simple gym class encounter completely changed his life trajectory and led to meeting his wife and business partner.
check out Dietflex here...
https://dietflex.com.au/
Check out Duayne's other projects here...
Live Life Build
livelifebuild.com
D Pearce Constructions
dpearceconstructions.com.au
QuoteEaze
quoteeaze.com/Free-Offer.html
Tailwind Talks is a podcast for high-performing professionals who want to build...
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
Check out the Duayne Pearce website here...
https://duaynepearce.com/
What's some advice for people out there in business that, after being in business for 50 years, you would?
Speaker 2:recommend Spend more time creating content than consuming content.
Speaker 1:A lot of people reach out to me all the time and say, oh, don't you worry about what you talk about on your podcast. It might put people off, but that's how you guys found me by listening to the podcast and hearing what I had to say.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. You became a trusted authority.
Speaker 1:G'day guys. Welcome back to another episode of Level Up. We are back in the shed this afternoon for another cracking episode. Today's guest is an incredible person that I've got to know quite well over the last 12 to 18 months because my building business, dps Constructions, is currently doing a lift and renovation of an old Queenslander cottage and an extension. So there's been plenty of time to get to know each other during our weekly site meetings and, seriously, this guy just blows me away. So a big warm welcome to Jamie Hayes. How are you, mate? Hi Dwayne, nice to be here, mate. I really appreciate you coming in.
Speaker 1:So for the listeners, you might be thinking why I've got Jamie on. So number one is him and his wife, alan, are incredible clients, really, really great to deal with, make decisions really quickly, and the process has been fantastic. But, like I said during the weekly site meetings, we've got to get to know each other a little bit and I'm just blown away by what these guys have done in their own lives and their business. And I really wanted to get Jamie on to talk about it because I think it will help a lot of people in the building industry, because Jamie and his wife are right into their fitness and their health. Multiple businesses, so DietFlex.
Speaker 2:And Healthy Inspirations.
Speaker 1:Healthy Inspirations and you've also had multiple gyms and lots of things, so you've been in the fitness industry for 50 years. That's right. And just before we get stuck in the conversation, I just want to point out that Jamie was the first person in Australia to get awarded Australia's first national fitness leader of the year. That's an incredible achievement.
Speaker 2:It's a long time ago. It is a long time ago, but I'm grateful that I got into the business, because it really empowered me to help other people get healthy.
Speaker 1:Can we go right back to where it all started? I guess what I like to do on this podcast, I guess, is tell people's stories so people get a whole picture of where they've come from, what they do and all those types of things. This will flow into other things, because you've become a little bit of a coach during our weekly site meetings now some of the conversations we've had. Take us back. How did you get into the fitness space?
Speaker 2:Well, we all have turning points in our lives. You know, big ahas and I was involved in insurance for five years. I used to have boozy lunches and close the bars at night. I didn't particularly like my life and a buddy of mine said let's go to the local gym and do one of these newfangled classes. And we did do that with him and his girlfriend and it was challenging. It was difficult. The instructor was very sexy and there were a lot of sexy girls in the class. There was a big gym in Sydney called City Gym and after we went to the Bellevue Hotel in Paddington, which I used to frequent quite a lot and the big aha was. I looked around the room around the pub, looked at the, the girls there that I used to like, but with their war paint on, and compared to the girls I saw in the gym in the class, they were no longer attractive. So instead of spending my time at the pubs at night I would go to the gym and do a class and I made such a nuisance to myself.
Speaker 2:They said, well, look, we'd better put you up on a podium. There was no instructor training. Then it was a sink or swim method and luckily it worked out for me. And then so I started teaching fitness in the gym and classes. And I was lucky enough because that led to the next or the most important thing, unbeknownst to me. There was a girl running a gym in Sydney, in the city a women's only club looking for a male instructor. She heard that she should come and check out Jamie, this new instructor. So what were you instructing? Aerobics and things like that? And so she came and did my class and stuck around to the end of the class and said hello, I'm Ellen.
Speaker 1:And we have been together ever since. Jeez, that's an incredible story, yeah, so did you end up?
Speaker 2:working for her. I didn't, actually I didn't, but you know I opened the club in 81. And then together we opened another club in Wynard in 84. And then a whole bunch of fitness clubs after that.
Speaker 1:Mate, that's awesome, and what a way to have a successful life. And then a whole bunch of fitness clubs after that, mate, that's awesome. And what a way to have a successful life when you meet someone that's got a similar passion to you and work together.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you work with us and with Ellen and you can see that Ellen and I work together well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh, it's incredible, mate. Your relationship definitely shows during all the dealings that we've had over the past 12, 18 months. It's really cool. So where did it go from there? You ended up getting into a franchise business, didn't you?
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, well we moved from Sydney to Brisbane, we had sold most of our clubs. We kept one at Bondi. Most of our clubs, we kept one at Bondi. And then a colleague in the States said you know, I've seen a gap in the market because there was a gap between the fitness industry that didn't do weight loss and the weight loss industry that didn't do fitness. And she said I wanted to franchise it. And we said, well, great, we'll do it too, not knowing what we didn't know. You know, you just make these decisions. Yeah, we'll do it too, not knowing what we didn't know, you know, you just make these decisions.
Speaker 2:And so in 2002, we started the Healthy Inspiration franchise and grew that to 38 centers around Australia and New Zealand. That is unreal. And then in 2012, we saw another gap in the market that, particularly amongst fitness clubs and health professionals, people were coming to them to lose weight, but exercise alone isn't going to cut it, and so there was a need for a systemized, nutrition-based weight loss program. And so we took the intellectual property from health inspirations that we'd Australianized and created a new program called DietFlex for health professionals and then for people who just want to be a weight loss coach. Luckily, before COVID. We started doing remote coaching via Zoom and phone and things like that, so we were pretty well unaffected by COVID, which was great, and that really said well, we've got to go full steam into deliver the weight loss coaching via Zoom, which means we're no longer location dependent and a coach could have clients. As a matter of fact, we have coaches who have clients in every state and territory in the country. So it's been great.
Speaker 1:It's a really big part of people's success, isn't it when you've got someone holding you accountable, like we see it in our Live, like Bill business, like it's all good to give people access to whatever it is documents or training or whatever diets, but you need to back that up with accountability, don't you?
Speaker 2:Well, we both have children. Imagine if our children went to school and they got homework but nobody checked it. There wasn't a teacher or a parent to check it. They are not going to do as well and they're not going to perform as well, so that coaching, support, accountability and guidance just makes a huge difference in the outcomes people get.
Speaker 1:Online course completion is a terrible problem most people sign up for courses or certifications they don't complete it's just they want that dopamine hit, don't they that they've purchased it, but then they don't follow through and do anything about it absolutely so.
Speaker 2:having a coach that they meet with doesn't have to be long coaching sessions or can be group coaching. We do one-on-one, but it can be group. And also it's great if they're involved in a community of like-minded people who are after the same thing. It can make a huge difference to their outcome.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and so you've built into this. I know you guys are very big on your diet and healthy living. We were talking about a little bit off air. That come from personal experience, didn't it like with dealing with asthma and stuff.
Speaker 2:Oh well, we all have our journeys and I was a chronic asthmatic as a child. My brother died at 22 of asthma. My mother and aunt were involved in the Asthma Foundation in New South Wales all their lives. Two of our three sons were chronic asthmatic and they'd been hospitalised too. So asthma is an ongoing threat in our household, as it is in many households. So I'm very motivated to do whatever's necessary, particularly with young asthmatics, to help them do what they can to get strong and become resilient so they're less prone to asthma. Of course they've got to follow their asthma management plan, speak to the doctor and things like that, but there's so much extra they can do to be healthy and to avoid triggers which we were discussing before. For instance, spearmint is a trigger for me, yeah.
Speaker 1:It's one of those things you've got to pick up what your triggers are and keep an eye on it and manage it.
Speaker 2:Because people do die. Yeah, none of the young kids, but old people die from asthma.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I do believe diet's got a lot to do with it. I had very bad asthma as a child. I had my ventilator machine beside the bed. I was on it all the time, lost a lot of school because of the asthma. But it definitely has gotten better, especially really definitely in the last 10 years.
Speaker 2:I do believe it's got a lot to do with my diet and the way that I live. Do you agree with that? That? Your diet, absolutely yeah. And you know, I'm just going to start from the outset. One of the best diet tips for anybody, whether they just want to get healthy, lose weight or whatever like that. If most of all the food you eat breakfast, lunch and dinner comes out of the bottom two drawers of your fridge, which is the meat drawer and the veggie drawer maybe you've got eggs and dairy at the top virtually nothing out of the pantry you are going to be slimmer. You are going to be healthier. You're going to live longer. You're going to have aimmer. You are going to be healthier. You're going to live longer. You're going to have a better life. You're going to have more energy.
Speaker 2:So you could call that grandma's eating plan if you like. So anything that's not in package, that's right. The golden rule in how to read food labels is don't buy food with labels. So, the meat drawer you've got the meat drawer with fish meat. So, pretty well, every morning I'll just have diced beef or lamb or kangaroo or minced beef or something like that. Maybe an egg as well, but we don't own a toaster.
Speaker 1:It's incredible. I've been really big on my diet the last six to 12 months and before that Camille and I thought we were healthy. But it's those things that you don't know what you don't know. And the more you educate yourself, the more you improve on things. And I can't believe how reactive I am now to anything with grains, pastas and I was only talking to my coach about this yesterday. I felt the last probably five or six weeks leading up to this big walk I did a week ago, I have been feeling like I'm 20 again.
Speaker 1:I am waking up, I cannot feel a thing. No aches, no pains, no joints. How?
Speaker 2:old are you 44. Am I interviewing you? You, are you interviewing me? Well, that's great.
Speaker 1:But, um, he, yesterday I felt terrible I had my left knee, which I've had a lot of dramas with over the years was just giving me so much grief. And I had a call with my coach yesterday and I was telling him and he's just asking me all these questions what have, what have you been doing? What, like, have you knocked it? Have you been kneeling down, like all these things? And then I we started going through my like he makes me write down what I eat, yeah, and started going through what I've been eating and I said, uh, um, the mother-in-law cooked dinner last night. We had, uh, rice and chicken. And he's like what, what, what? He's like what did you say? I said I had rice. He goes how long since you had rice? I said I haven't had rice since you and I started working together there you go.
Speaker 1:He goes, rice is a grain and I guarantee you that grain would have.
Speaker 2:But he found your weak point and it would have been making you hurt now I don't have a particular ideology into what we should and shouldn't eat for other people. I do for me, but not for other people. So, when it comes to your body, I'm not the expert. Your doctor's not the expert. You're not the expert.
Speaker 2:The only expert when it comes to what you should eat for your body is your body. And the way to find that out is take out all the crap. And so you did this. You took out all the crap. You were feeling better, but then you added something in Maybe it was the rice or something you had with the rice and your body said whoops, that doesn't feel good. And that's exactly the process we use within DietFlex. We take out all the crap and rubbish and then, bit by bit, add one thing in and people learn the lesson. They say this doesn't feel good, or I feel bloated, I get head fuzz, or I've got some inflammation that's popped up again shoulders, knees, joints or whatever like that headaches, bloating, farting, whatever. And so we believe your body is the expert, and with a guiding philosophy one diet does not suit everybody, but, starting with those fresh foods, the food you find in the bottom two drawers in the fridge meat, eggs, veggies, green veggies, sort of call it grandma's diet.
Speaker 1:Yeah, one of the reasons I want to get you on veggies green veggies, sort of call it grandma's diet. Yeah, one of the reasons I want to get you on Jamie, because I talk about on site. When we catch up sometimes, like people in the building industry especially, I think like we're generally up very early racing around making sure we get to site on time Most tradies are quite lazy, like you. You've only got to look at a, a dumpster on the bing on the job sites now and it's full of takeaway food and cans and all this crap and and like now you're seeing all these delivery services turn up with smoke. So I wanted to get you on to talk about how people can still look after themselves and keep it simple, and that example you've just given is a very good one. Like literally just buy food that's not in packages.
Speaker 2:But you have to pre-plan and they'll often start at 6 and to get there at the building site at 6, you've got to get there, maybe leave home at 5 or whatever, but they've got to pre-plan. So one of the best ways to pre-plan particularly dinner, where you might be having steak and veg or salad, stuff like that it's cook double and serve it onto your plate, put the other heart into a container and you can have cold steak or chops or whatever like that for breakfast or the lunch. So if you are proactive, pre-planning, you're much more likely to have the foods you need to eat. So think of, instead of eating food with your hands, fingers, everything you just described a meat pie, a roll chips, sandwich, things like that you really want to eat with your knife and fork, because that's going to be meat and veg or meat and salad and things like that, and particularly it's going to be higher in protein, because if you don't eat enough protein, particularly throughout the day, starting at that first meal of the day, you're going to be hunger, and hunger is the enemy of weight loss. So I want everybody who's watching this video to think if they know somebody that, if they wave a magic wand, would like to lose 10 kilos off their gut or whatever like that. Everybody and maybe it's say that's me, you know.
Speaker 2:Uh, now an exercise physiologist knows that every pound of body fat stores around 3,500 calories. You know there's 2.2 pounds per kilo, so every kilo stores 7,700 calories. So 10 kilos stores 77,000 calories. And you just did that huge big walk. But that's enough calories for you to walk from Brisbane to Sydney and perhaps back, without eating. It's like an atomic bomb of energy. But then you ask yourself, do you ever get hungry? So somebody's carrying 77,000 calories of stored energy in that 10 kilos and they're hungry all the time. So that's what we call the weight loss conundrum. How could that possibly be? And basically what's happening is hormonal dysregulation is denying them access to the energy stored or trapped in their fat cells.
Speaker 2:The first step to give them access to dirt is to up their protein, because protein provides satiety, and decrease their particularly complex sorry, their carbohydrates, particularly the processed carbohydrates. You know the things that you pick up in your hands the cereal, the rolls and things like that. Think of the meals we have with a knife and fork, even if it's a can, that you continue to take to the building site with leftover steak or sausages or fish or hard-boiled eggs or things like that. You're going to eat these with a knife and fork and with salad or veggies and things like that. That will maintain satiety. You'll end up eating less and you'll have energy all day long.
Speaker 2:A lot of people now have hybrid cars that run on petrol and electricity. Now your body is like a hybrid car because it can run on both carbohydrate that's storing in your blood sugar and in your liver, and glycogen in your muscles and body fat. But most people don't have access to the body fat. So what we want to do is convert our body into a hybrid machine so that, yes, we can consume carbohydrate, but it can also access the stored body fat. So we've got stable energy and concentration all day long, and concentration is very important, particularly on the building site, to prevent accidents.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, all the guests and listeners will be starting to get an idea why we have good conversations at our weekly site meetings because you're a wealth of knowledge.
Speaker 1:Just to go back, you said to get rid of the crap. And when you say get rid of the crap, a lot of people will just be thinking the chocolate, the chips, the lollies and things. But crap can be, or, for a lot of people, is bread and grains. Sure, like I thought I actually went away from the bread a long time ago 12, 18 months ago and I went to wraps because I thought the wrap was a better alternative. But now I've learned that wraps are just as bad.
Speaker 2:Well, because it's delivering surface carbohydrate and for some people they are non-celiac gluten intolerant so that they get an inflammatory response from having gluten in the wheat within the wrap. So that's why I say take all of this out of your diet, let your body settle down. Then you can add it back in and see how your body responds. So when you added some of those things back in, your body told you I don't like that, yeah, and I said don't eat food with labels. So it's got healthy this and healthy that it's on the label. But if you go to your butcher or your fishmonger and get meat and fish and you go to your green grocer and you get veggies and salad and things like that, that's all completely unprocessed and you're going to do better on it.
Speaker 1:Like you say, one thing that I've definitely realized and again it's from my coach pushing me it's all the preparation, Because this journey I'm on now is only working because I'm putting the effort in and I'm preparing either the night before or the week before. Yeah, but for me it's been learning about what things I can do to keep it really simple and, like you say, things that you can eat with knives and forks, like I've just really dumbed that down. So, like a lot of my lunch now is salmon or sardines, Yep, which I've never really like. I love salmon. Sardines I've never been a fan of, but it's actually quite cheap.
Speaker 2:Absolutely Canned fish is fantastic.
Speaker 1:You can go and buy organic fish and it's cheap as chips.
Speaker 2:But if our fish just don't have fried foods so like deep fried, wok fried, whatever like that, just in the beginning, I would avoid all fried foods. Yeah, you know. So like deep fried wok fried, whatever like that, just in the beginning, I would avoid all fried foods.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I've cut that out completely, like all the, even when we go to get fish and chips now, like, I don't get any chips and I get my fish grilled and I get a serve of calamari grilled and that's, that's all I'm cutting out that's a good choice, but um, the other thing I'm doing, that's really been really simple for lunch. Lunch is going to the deli and getting 200-gram lots of shaved silver side.
Speaker 2:I did that yesterday morning.
Speaker 1:I was a bit hungry.
Speaker 2:I was getting some steaks for the night and I went to the deli thing and I got some shaved ham, I think, which is super cheap. It's full of protein. I think which is super cheap. It's full of protein because there were some researchers in Sydney University, robin Hyman Simpson. They wrote a book called Eat Like the Animals because they noticed that in the animal kingdom also the insect kingdom.
Speaker 2:They would keep on eating until their protein needs were met. And they recognized that humans do this too. They'll keep on eating until your protein needs were met, and they recognize that humans do this too. They'll keep on eating until your protein needs are met. So if you front load your meals with the protein, the essential amino acids, that has a satiety effect and you end up eating less calories. So it really is a weight loss secret.
Speaker 2:But with excess weight we've also got inflammation, higher blood pressure, high levels of blood sugar, blood insulin. That leads to insulin resistance. And there is a test that is rarely done, which is to see if people have insulin resistance or pre-diabetes. And it's a simple test Is your waistline more than 50% of your height, male, female, at any age? Just put a tape measure around your waist. If it's more than 50% like 55%, 60% it's likely you have undiagnosed insulin resistance, which is prediabetes, which means you have difficulty accessing the energy stored or trapped in your fat cells as well. You're hungry all the time You're carrying weight. You're hungry all the time and when we're carrying all this what's called visceral fat around our midsection. That drives blood pressure as well. So if you're medicated, you want to really go back to what is the root cause? What is causing this? I'm not saying stop the medication, communicate with your doctor. But if you can bring your weight down, bring the inflammation down, bring your blood pressure down, your doctor might say hey, listen, I think we can taper off this medication.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's bloody unreal mate, like as well as all the conversation we had. I did a bit of research before you come on today on YouTube and stuff, and there was a video on there where you'll correct me if I'm wrong, but you and this is probably it's probably wrong because I think it is quite an old video, but up until the point when you're on stage doing the, you must have been speaking at a conference or something and up until that point you'd helped I can't remember the number of people, but you'd helped lose over 130,000 kilos. Oh, definitely.
Speaker 2:It's well over 200,000 kilos now. So you know, around Australia and New Zealand and that's through the coaching network, you know training people to coach people on the program. So that's 200 tons of weight that you've helped people get rid of.
Speaker 2:And, more important, where they lose that excess weight, they get more life, they're going to live longer, they're going to live healthier, better, they're going to have better relationships Everything improves. As a matter of fact, I think there is a gender effect here and I'm not being sexist, but I think women, more than men, are judged by their weight, which is completely unfair. But it's reality, and I find that we get reported from both males and females that lose weight and return to a normal, healthy weight that people treat them better. The world treats them better, with more respect. They tend to stand up, they can participate in life more, so they just get more out of life.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, you feel better, don't you as well? But it's definitely when people are looking at you differently. It can be quite empowering to keep going and get fitter. But gyms are popping up everywhere. I don't know if they like. 50 years ago there must have been an insurgence in them and then they went away for a bit. But you look around now there's a gym on every second corner and, like you said, that's my theory. I believe a lot of the young fellas just go there to check out the chicks.
Speaker 2:Well, maybe, but that's a pretty healthy way If you're going to meet somebody of the opposite sex or whatever, but that's a pretty healthy way to do it. There's definitely a worse way to do it. But one point I want to make about gyms is I really believe, in addition to brushing and flossing your teeth, because brushing and flossing your teeth is a preventive activity. As a matter of fact, our dentist is a very close friend, eric. I asked him the question which teeth should I floss? He said only the ones you want to keep. And the same principle applies to your muscles. Which muscles should we exercise? Only the ones we want to keep. And muscles work on a use it or lose it principle. If we stop stimulating muscular regrowth, we get weaker and more prone to injury. And definitely I know people in the trades. They're increasingly using more power tools. I saw at Bunnings a huge range of Ryobi.
Speaker 2:It's battery-powered, everything you know whereas the building site you're working on for us a lot of it is old hardwood and those chippies they must have been incredibly strong to saw that and to drive nails into it. They would have had handshakes like steel. But through strength training, which you can do very efficiently in a gym, you can also do it at home. I really believe it's one of the most preventative things you can do for your life, to give you a better quality of life and a longer life. It's called muscle-based medicine. So I really believe that everybody, male and female, should be participating in some strengthening exercise.
Speaker 1:Well, mate, you're a testament to that, because you mentioned your age before. I won't say it If you want to say it you can 172, but born in 53.
Speaker 1:Just again to give you a bit of insight. So, jamie, he turns up to our site every single day. We've got a bit of a routine going. He comes, we're on WhatsApp, he sends me pictures, he talks to the site lead carpenter, lets me know he's there, goes through each day, takes a log book of what's been happening. But like you've turned up in a singlet you've. I've seen you there even in the early stage when we're getting started there. You were taking gear out of there like you're 72 year old and you get into it well, muscles work on a use it, lose it principle.
Speaker 2:And I've got grandchildren now, and so I've got a motivation. They're boys, five and seven, and I've got a raison d'etre, a goal that I want to participate physically in their lives. I want to be able to take them to the beach, run along the beach, dive into the surf, have them jump on me, piggyback them for as long as possible, and the best way I can do that is by staying strong, and so it's really a simple, you know, and I only really do strength training for about 15 minutes every morning, and I know some of your team members do as well, so it doesn't take a lot. You don't have to spend hours and hours and hours in the gym. My routine is just about three or four exercises every morning, plus, of course, as you know, we live in an apartment that's up four flights of stairs and people say what are you going to do when you get older? I say this is stopping us getting older. Yeah, because that's giving us leg strength, activity and stuff like that. Yeah, it's keeping because that's giving us leg, you know, strength activity and stuff like that. So if people and the good news is, you can start strength training at any age.
Speaker 2:When we had a gym in Bondi, my mother, who had already fallen over and broken the wrist you know chalky bones, things like that that recovered. She said, darling, I've got to come to your gym. And we got her doing I think it was seven strength machines super slow like this, but to the point where she could no longer move it and for just 30 minutes twice a week. In six months, starting at 76, she doubled her strength on all exercises, some she tripled, and with her legs she quadrupled her strength. So that was life prolonging and she's passed away now but that made a huge difference to her life. So that's called muscle-based medicine. You can really prolong your life by eating the right foods, fresh foods, grandmother's diet and staying strong. Yeah.
Speaker 1:I love it and through everything you're doing and the businesses and stuff and the coaching, you've become a bit of a coach, I think as well. Your knowledge about so many other parts of business is huge. We've had a lot of conversations around leadership and management. Yep, Do you want to talk?
Speaker 2:to us a little bit about that. Oh sure, look, I think in any business and I'm in the fitness business, but it's good to have with your spouse, you know, a lot of your trainees there'd be a family business, would that be correct? Yeah, and it's good to say let's draw an org chart, an organization chart of who does what. You know what are the key functions of the business, and just picture this in your mind. We do it on a whiteboard or a piece of paper. So at the top you've got the shareholders. Let's call them Jack and Jill. They own the business and then reporting to the shareholders. Is somebody who is called manager who runs the business. Is somebody who is called manager who runs the business? Let's call that Jack, all right.
Speaker 2:And how do the shareholders know if the business is working for them? They are going to be getting both money and time, which means a return on investment without worries. And you know every business owner has been to the stage three o'clock in the morning. How am I going to pay wages and things like that? And time, which is? I've got a formula for that which is 50 minus the hours you work in and on your business per week. So, duane, if you're working 70 hours a week, your score is minus 20. You might be making a lot of money, but you have no lifestyle. Let's say, through empowering others and using systems and scaling your business only requires you for 30 hours a week. 50 minus 30 means you've got 20 hours left over. So you're getting both cash and time. And a lot of business owners say are you spending time with your children or are we going holidays for four weeks a year?
Speaker 2:Now, reporting to the owners, is the manager? Let's say the manager is Jack. What's his KPI or key performance indicator? Definitely profit and cash flow. And sometimes your accountant says you're making a lot of profit, but where's the cash? That's most of the time for most businesses. Well, that's right, and so that's the thing to juggle. And there are four key functions that the manager has got to achieve. They are marketing, sales, delivery or delivering the service or the product and finance.
Speaker 2:So then we ask the question in Jack and Jill's business, who is responsible for marketing, which is creating sales opportunities? And if they're not spending some time, and like, how did we find you? Ellen, found you via podcasts. You were out there marketing, investing time in marketing. And so let's say it's Jack. Jack's responsible for marketing. And what are the key performance indicators? Does he create inquiries or requests for quotes? How many inquiries per week? How many quotes get requested each week?
Speaker 2:Then we say now, sales, which is converting those quotes into business. What's the Christian name of the person responsible for sales? Let's say it's Jack, again, all right. So you can see a trend here, right? And Jack can say well, this is how many quotes and this is how many conversions, what's his conversion rate? And we also measure yield, which is what is the value of those quotes. And then, finally, delivery. Who's delivering the service? What's the name of the manager responsible for delivering the service? Let's say it's Jack. Again, you can see a trend here, can't you? And so he's delivering the service.
Speaker 2:And then finance, which is accounts, receivable, getting paid accounts payable, payroll, bas and things like that. Maybe Jill's going to do that. And so you can see how easy it is for them to imprison themselves because their names are in all the boxes. If, at the lower level marketing, sales, delivery and finance you can take your names out of the box, then suddenly you've got a cash flow business, one that you own. It doesn't own you A business. That's nice to have but actually easy to sell, and so that's a great goal. So starting with an org chart of the key function of the business marketing, sales, delivery and finance I think is a great step, so that the business owners can have a directors meeting at the 15th of every month and say how are we doing, what are our key ratios and what can we do. Can we call Dwayne and get some help in improving those key ratios?
Speaker 1:I talk to a lot of people mate about the roles and it's incredible and I was in the same boat for a long time but so many people that I talk to that reach out to me can't tell me their roles. And I say to them well, until if you don't know what your roles are, if you haven't taken the time to write them down and work them out, how do you know who you're going to hire? To get some time back, where are you going to start?
Speaker 2:absolutely, now, what I just quoted to you, I learned from Michael Gerber, who wrote the e-myth about developing an org chart. But then the next challenge is how do I remove myself from that role? Let's say the actual stuff at the building site. You've got a manager and he's got other people. How do we get other people to do the thing I do so? Well, and I'd really like to refer everybody to a fantastic little book called the One Minute Manager, which talks about how to train somebody to do something the way you want it done, and one of the biggest secrets I learned out of that book because there's only three secrets in that book One of the secrets I learned out of that book because there's only three secrets in that book is that a manager or a supervisor should realize that all their team members, their apprentice, their traders, whatever like that all failed one subject at school and that subject is mind reading when you told me.
Speaker 1:We had a conversation about this one day and when you told me that I was like it's so true.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. And so how do you become? You know we often confuse the word a good leader with a good manager, but we've all through our lives had circumstances where we've been mismanaged or treated unfairly and people really gravitate towards a good leader. We can all think about somebody in their life and I want you, Duane, to think about somebody in your life. It might be at school or a sports or a teacher. It might have been a minister of the church who got you to do what you didn't think you could do. You didn't like them at the time, but you actually achieved a good result and now, upon reflection, you really think of that person with affection, Like if you bumped into them.
Speaker 2:If they're still alive, they made a huge difference to you and I think a good manager can be that person for people. They're training to empower them, knowing that that person's not going to be with them forever. Power them. Knowing that that person's not going to be with them forever. Because if you are well known as like, if you can get a job working for Dwayne Pierce, you are bloody lucky because he's going to be tough, he's going to hold you accountable, but you are going to learn great systems and how to do the job well. So you want to be that sort of manager that is attractive. So you want to be that sort of manager that is attractive and the wages are less important, then, because you're going to be like a learning institution and just think of the loyalty that you achieve and the connections, because often they will leave you, but there'll be great connections in business Something else we've talked about several times mate is value.
Speaker 1:Like how it shouldn't always be. Like an employee shouldn't always just make it about the money. Like it's got to be more than the money. Like create a good work environment. Create an environment where they can learn skills and take that out into their own career in the future. I do think it's an area where our industry especially I'm not sure about your fitness industry, but we are really struggling with that at the moment because everyone just wants to do their apprenticeship and then leave.
Speaker 2:Oh sure, well, and I think people have. You know it's great if you can say here's a career path, even map it on. You know, you've got an apprenticeship, then you've got this, then you've got this. So after you've got an apprenticeship, then you got this, then you got this. So after you've done your apprenticeship, uh, we might have a role for you as a full-time tradie or whatever, like that, or outsource, or I'm going to help you get into business and you're going to become one of our contract trading, because I know you've learned from me and you'll you'll do it well. Um, I'd like to share, if you don't mind, a uh, a great speech that a business owner can give a new employee.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, definitely.
Speaker 2:And let's do some role playing. So you're the new employee.
Speaker 2:I'm the business owner. Yeah, so, dwayne. Firstly, I like to deal with reality and I know you're not going to work for me forever. One day you're going to have the opportunity to follow your green pasture, your dream, and it might become like in the fitness industry. You might be the fitness director of the P&O cruise ship or whatever. Open your own gym, or in building it might be, start your own business, and I wish you every success. Be a success.
Speaker 2:But your ability to do that, to achieve your goal, is very dependent upon the things you're going to learn whilst you're here with me, and not just the things you learn, but the work you do, because your signature is going to be on all that work. Because one day you are going to leave and I'm going to get a phone call, either from somebody who's going to be employing you to ask would you hire this person again? Or it could be a bank or somebody who's going to lend you money to invest in you or to take a risk on you, and you want me to say this person's reliable. They show up, they do what they're promised. So, duane, coming to work for me, I am nothing but your stepping stone. You're actually working for yourself to develop that reputation, reputation, that cv. So what if you do choose to come work for me, or if I choose you? Likewise, I want you to work hard to achieve a great goal. And that's the sort of boss I am. I'm not going to be always nice, but I'm completely invested in you learning and getting a great reputation for yourself. Does that make sense? 100%. So that sort of conversation that young person says I'm dealing with a realist, I'm dealing with a leader who actually has my best interests at heart.
Speaker 2:And we do have, apparently, a cost of living crisis. They do have cash flow problems and sometimes you've got to get personal. What are your income goals? You're not spending too much. How are you going to survive? Blah, blah, blah. And it's good to have those conversations because that does matter, because sometimes that's the reason they're going to leave. Yeah.
Speaker 1:I had one of those conversations only last week, mate, with one of my young apprentices. It's unbelievable. Like I don't think there's a cost of living crisis, I think there's a cost of spending crisis. Yeah, but, mate, it was on a, it was on a monday morning. He um I was on site early. We're getting ready to hand over a house. We had to just pull the temporary fencing down, the landscapes were coming in to do all the turf and finish it all off, and him and my supervisor were meant to meet me there to just wrap it all up. And the supervisor got tied up picking some gear up and had let him know that, and so he thought he'd just go and get a coffee and turn up a bit later 20 minutes later and I'm like, mate, what's going on?
Speaker 1:You knew I was going to be here. Todd told me he was going to be around late, so I just decided to get a coffee. I was like, well, now you've pissed me off.
Speaker 2:And that's not going to be on the CV, and did you get the call the reference. Call Are and did you get the call the reference call.
Speaker 1:Are you going to remember that event? Anyway, so the long part of the story is he'd gone out of his way to go and get a coffee, which had made him turn up to work late, which had made me annoyed, which he didn't really think much of because he just thought the coffee was more important. And I said, mate, I don't care if Todd's running late, like we've got shit to do here. You knew I was going to be here, so I was like, oh, but I thought without the truck being here we wouldn't be able to load it on or whatever. And I'm like that doesn't matter, mate, if you're told to be at a certain time, you get here, absolutely. And while we're having this conversation, um, and it's unfolding, I he's starting to sort of have a bit of a chat to me about the, the cost of living, and it's hard. And I'm being tough on him and saying well, mate, you haven't just done yourself any favours by turning up late, because if you're struggling to live, you need to impress me, sure.
Speaker 2:And it's easy. For well, not easy, but there is a formula for giving yourself a pay rise. Those who do more than they're paid to do end up getting paid more for what they do. Yeah, turning up early, delivering extra value because you'll want to pay them more, it's all value.
Speaker 2:But I do want to refer back to that book, the One Minute Manager, which is you can read it in a one-hour plane flight. It's so small because it talks about one-minute goal settings, which is recognizing that that team member is not a mind reader, that you're going to show them the way you want it done. They might have come through apprenticeship school, fine, but it's my business. This is the way we do it because we operate on standard operating procedures or systems. Then you've got one-minute praisings, which is catching them doing things right. You've got children. Yeah, do you remember when your youngest first started to walk?
Speaker 1:Yeah, how old were they Would have been 14, 15 months maybe.
Speaker 2:Right, and did you praise them then? Oh, you're all over them.
Speaker 1:But was that the?
Speaker 2:first time? Did they have to wait for 15 months? No, or when they were making it. So you caught them things doing approximately right, knowing that the journey to exactly right is made up of a whole series of approximately rights. That's called one-minute praisings. But then the third secret is one-minute reprimands. You gave that fellow a reprimand, but the worst thing you can do is not give the reprimand, and so you internalize it, you get stressed out about it, and how many times have we heard somebody in business say I got rid of all my people. They're terrible, I'm just better doing it myself, which means completely imprisoning yourself. So the rules of giving one minute reprimands do it in private. Let them know exactly what they did wrong and how it affects the team and the performance and how you feel about it, and then move ahead. But get it done straight away and it can really so they end up thinking not what, how they were treated, but what they did wrong. So you know, it's sort of like twisting the dagger, isn't?
Speaker 1:it.
Speaker 2:So that book, the One-Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard, is a great read for anybody that has a team or wants to become a better leader, better manager, and wants to grow their team.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I take all that on board. Where that conversation yeah, I take all that on board when that conversation kept going. But was he went on to tell me that him and his girlfriend and another mate and his girlfriend have just moved into a new rental house for $1,320 a week.
Speaker 2:Fair, and I'm like, mate, you haven't got like you're not struggling because you're not earning enough money, You're struggling because you're living a lifestyle you can't afford Definitely, and I think that happens a lot in the world these days and you know I've got to give credit to a lot of ethnic families that come to Australia, go on the building industry and they all live at home and then they start buying their homes and stuff like that. You know, in Sydney the Italians and the Greeks. But they do what it takes.
Speaker 1:Right that In Sydney the Italians and the Greeks but they do what it takes, right, they do what it takes. They do what it takes and they become very wealthy and financially stable that way. Yeah, let's move on, mate, to. I like how you mentioned that you found us through the podcast. Yes, because a lot of people don't believe me, like that. A lot of people reach out to me all the time and say, oh, don't you worry about what you talk about on your podcast. It might put people off, but that's how you guys found me by listening to the podcast and hearing what I had to say.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. You became a trusted authority.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so how have you found the whole process with us? Well?
Speaker 2:firstly, the process of you being involved in the design and the quote and things like that. Everything was laid out and was completely transparent. So we knew what we were getting into and we had a budget to work with and we had to do some pull a few things back here and there to save some dollars so that we had a path moving forward, knowing that prices go up and delivery stuff and things can go wrong. So that process in the beginning was very empowering and we felt that we trusted both the designer, aaron, and yourself, because you both work together. So we were impressed with that process and there was a bit of rejigging rejigging the design. You gave input on the prices and we changed the design slightly and that's been a good process.
Speaker 2:Then, moving ahead, there's been again a lot of communication, very proactive communication, between your team and particularly with Ellen. We have weekly site meetings, but then we had a timeline that we as the building owners had to work to for the specification of the white goods, the light fittings, and even today Ellen was changing a front door knob or something like that. So your accounting department, our accounting department, have worked well together and the site meeting your team members have been fantastic. Curtis, they have ticked me off if there was a safety issue if I wasn't wearing steel cap, boots, but, uh, that's fine.
Speaker 2:Or going there unannounced, or when I shouldn't be going there, that was all, uh, that was all fine. So, uh, and of course, we've got the unforeseens of, you know, rain and weather and things like that, a lot of weather, and so you know, we've been able to deal with that and that's changed the agenda, the timeline, slightly, but these are the unknowns and we've been in business a long time and you just have to go with the flow, make your best decision, deal with what comes up and move ahead. So maintaining the relationship is important to us and move ahead, you know. So maintain the relationship is important to us. And also we've developed a fantastic trust in your team members, both your senior and junior team members. They've all been courteous and also we're impressed with little things like leaving the site clean, good relationship with neighbours. You know, all these things count.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, it's been a really good process, but I I think the like you can see with the different types of clients that we have, um, the different types of relationships, and I always find that having clients that are in business always seems to be a better relationship. They understand a lot more, um, and I think, because you've been in business so long, like you just said, like you understand, with all the wet weather, that we've just got to work around and come up with solutions and keep moving forward. And there's been a few site meetings where I've been quite stressed about that and you've basically given me a pat on the back and said oh, that's fine, dwayne. Like we've been in business a long time, we get things change.
Speaker 2:Sure, so it's good. We do want to get it finished as quickly as possible, get it on the market, get income coming back in, but still, you know, things have an agenda of their own and we can see that there's effort all around, and some of your well, all of your team members are doing a fantastic job, but many of them, you can see that the way they're doing the workmanship, it's as though it's their home. You can see it. So that makes a big difference.
Speaker 1:That's awesome, mate, before we wrap it up, you've been in business a long time and I think it doesn't matter what industry you're in, what business you have a lot of businesses deal with the same issues. I guess what's some advice for people out there in business that, after being in business for 50 years, you would recommend the top three things you should be looking out for.
Speaker 2:Well, firstly, if you see somebody that's successful, if you can model what they're doing, that's going to help you, you know, rather than reinventing the wheel and things like that. So, particularly if you're in a, if I was an apprentice of getting in the building industry, I would look around for not who pays the most money, but who would be the best manager, who would be the best trainer? Who could I learn more from? Who is doing a great job in marketing that I can learn from them? So I would probably double my apprenticeship to learn more. I'd see if I can take my boss out for breakfast and learn from them. I can take my boss out for breakfast and learn from them.
Speaker 2:So that's one thing. The other thing is in business, of course. How you market your business is often more important to the result than how you do your business or your thing. So you know and marketing isn't everything Everything we do is marketing, you know, wearing your logo on your shirt, having the sign out the front on your truck and things like that it is all marketing. So now we've got AI, that's impacting every part of our lives, so we have to spend extra time getting into that. You're doing great marketing also, not only with this podcast, but appearing as an expert on other people's podcasts. There's a rule when it comes to social media, and all your younger team members should realize this there's a success factor on social media. It's simply this spend more time creating content than consuming content. Here we are creating content, which is much more valuable to meeting your goals than being on your mobile phone for two hours a day looking at whatever.
Speaker 1:And that's a good one. I'm glad you bring that up because if people actually took note of how much time they're spending, they would see that they could easily cut back on the time they're scrolling and put a quarter of that time into producing the social media, and that would have a massive impact on their business Totally, totally.
Speaker 2:And so last week I bought a book. It was about one part of our marketing funnel. It was about the discovery call, which is after somebody opts in or makes an inquiry how do you make that phone call? And so I'm reading a whole book on one key aspect of the business how to make the phone call. Unfortunately, today, with decreased attention spans, people do know how to read, but they don't have the ability to read a book. They put everything aside, be it one chapter or nine or whatever like that. So it's good to be that constant student. As a matter of fact, for me it's motivating. I'm not considering retiring because I'm enjoying it so much and it keeps me intellectually stimulated.
Speaker 1:Yeah, mate, they're awesome tips and I can tell because, like I said, we have some great conversations and it blows my mind the amount of topics that you just know so much about. We've had conversations about everything health, farming, housing. We're both interested in regenerative farming, of course.
Speaker 2:So that's a really interesting topic, because it's not just a matter about the emissions that go up into the air, but how much comes back into the soil and regenerative farming. So we don't have a zero emission policy, we've got a net zero emission policy, which means bringing carbon back into the soil through regenerative farming, and so I think that's got a lot to go, particularly here in Australia. You know, we should be giving a lot of credit to our farmers.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they definitely get overlooked. People just think that the shit shows up on the shelf in the supermarket. Yeah no, yeah, and that's something you guys are moving more towards. Like you were saying the other day, you're thinking about moving down to your farm.
Speaker 2:Oh sure, but you know we operate a virtual business so it makes no difference where we are. So you know we'll continue recruiting, you know, coaches to the DietFlex program. You know people, mainly mature-age women, want to work from home. So anybody out there, you know mature age women who want to add some extra income, have passion about helping other people, particularly in the weight loss journey. We can help you set up a nice, tidy home business. But I'd like to share a philosophy which I learned from a plaque that was on my mother's kitchen wall, and you've probably heard this. This, it's a lovely saying, which is goes something like this I shall pass this way, but once, therefore, any good I can do, any kindness I can show, let me do it now, for I may not pass this way again.
Speaker 1:That's good if you take the time to reflect on that and think about that, that says a lot. You should never miss an opportunity. Eh, definitely not, mate. Before we wrap it up and get out of here, how can people listeners get in touch with you?
Speaker 2:Go to dietflexcomau D-I-E-T-F-L-E-Xcomau, follow the links. And I didn't share one of my biggest marketing tips, which is You're all right, let's keep going, mate, I can talk to you.
Speaker 1:No, that's fine.
Speaker 2:And it is pay attention to the things that grab your attention. So if you see it might be an ad for toothpaste or something on your social media or something in the newspaper or something on the TV and it grabs your attention, pay attention to that, click the link, look at it. Gee, I mean I save all great ads that I see because we're doing a lot of Facebook advertising, because I can learn from that.
Speaker 1:So it's really good. As you say, mate, learn from those that are doing what you want to do, definitely. Yeah, sure, it's the quickest, easiest, simplest way, most cost-effective way to get to where you want to be Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Now I know we're sort of going on, but in setting goals, one good thing anybody could do is you know the old time when you had to borrow money from the bank. They would get you to fill out an assets and liabilities form. Yeah Well, go to the bank and ask, or you could probably download it from the internet assets and liability form and you fill it out. Of course, your car is not an asset, it's an expense because it depreciates. But you fill it out whatever you've got in the bank, or net value of real estate and things like that. And you do that every year so that you say my goal is to increase net asset and so it's a good financial planning tip.
Speaker 1:just to do that, mate. I'm huge on that, like I have an asset. Well, camille and I have an assets liability sheet that we review very regularly, probably every six to eight weeks, and it's also a document that we've developed that we have inside our training business, live Life Built for all of our members. Because when you finish school there's no report cards. For me, your assets liability sheet is your report card. You should be in a position where every year, you're trying to increase or improve that just no different to when you're at school and trying to improve your report card because I don't know, like some people say, I push too hard and I'm I need to back off a little bit. But you, to me, to keep going through life without getting comfortable, without getting stale, you've got to keep improving things and for that, asset liability is a driver. It proves to me like I want to get to the next level.
Speaker 2:And one of the best steps I think, particularly people in business, particularly a husband and wife is to have that kitchen table board meeting on the 15th of every month where they look at their profit and loss statement and, uh, just a little financial tip, I prefer to look at a profit loss spreadsheet so we see the, the trends you know, like the last six or 12 months, month to month, um, and say how are we doing? Are we putting money in our savings account? You know, we accumulating some asset. And sometimes it's good to have a business coach it might be via Zoom Sit in with them with that 30-minute one-hour looking at the profit and loss statement. Instead of saying it's a sea of numbers, let's dive into it. It might be a level one, two, three or four.
Speaker 2:And it's a good role for a business coach to say let me be just an ex-officio director of your business, just so that we can sit in and say how are we going and are we headed towards our goal or not, and are we accumulating some money or not? Are we putting money into super or not? Not, you know, are we putting money into super or not? And that's a good role for additional role for a business coach that can make a huge difference people, because it, as a matter of fact, you I saw it this morning a demonstration how you can use chat. Gpt is a business coach.
Speaker 2:I know but AI is impacting all our lives and will continue to impact all our lives from here on in. There's no doubt in my mind about that.
Speaker 1:Well, jamie, look, really appreciate your time, mate. I know it's been a bit of a drive out here from inner city Brisbane for you, but I really appreciate your time. I really appreciate you and Alan Helen letting our business build one of your investment properties and I really hope our friendship continues after the build. I think you're amazing people. I love your energy and, yeah, I really look forward to our Monday meetings because it's always we do the job stuff and then we always have a chat about other stuff.
Speaker 2:We were lucky to find duane pierce constructions. I appreciate it, mate. We were very, very lucky and uh, it's been a stress-free or as minimal stress as possible uh adventure to doing this. Uh, you know million dollar renovation, so yeah cheers, mate appreciate it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, um, look, guys, if you liked this podcast, make sure you subscribe, comment all those things, share with your friends so that we can continue to make this australia's number one construction podcast so all you guys and girls can run successful, sustainable and profitable building businesses.
Speaker 2:Cheers guys, see you on the next one are you ready to build smarter, live better and enjoy life? Then head over to livelikebuildcom forward. Slash, elevate to get started.
Speaker 1:Everything discussed during the Level Up podcast with me, dwayne Pearce, is based solely on my own personal experiences and those experiences of my guests. The information, opinions and recommendations presented in this podcast are for general information only, and any reliance on the information provided in this podcast is done at your own risk. We recommend that you obtain your own professional advice in respect to the topics discussed during this podcast.