The Real Biz Life Chronicles

Hosted by Tracy Fryer

Business Entrepreneurship

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Episodes

165

Latest episode

Oct 2026

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EN-AU

About the show

Unedited stories of Business, Branding and Life. Banish boring. Join Tracy Fryer and her guests as they take a ride on the rollercoaster of being a business owner, or of simply being human. Tracy is the founder of Design Studio Perth, a branding agency, so she spends her days working out what businesses stand for. This is where she gets to ask the questions the boardroom version never gets to. Real business owners, their story, the strategies behind their success, and what it actually cost them. Get ready to learn exactly what it takes to grow with distinction and show mediocrity the middle finger. RAW. Honest. Unedited.

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November 6, 2026Episode 1661 hr 12 min

Is It Too Late To Start Over? | Dr Richard Pace #166

Send us Fan Mail If you've ever told yourself you're too old, too unqualified or too far behind to start again, this episode will take every one of those excuses off the table. Dr Richard Pace has spent a lifetime proving that the hand you're dealt doesn't decide where you end up. Ask him how, and he'll give you a simple answer: if it's going to be, it's up to me. We were connected through the wonderful John Clegg, and although this was the first time Richard and I had met in person, it felt like I'd known him for years. Richard was diagnosed with a bone disease so rare he was believed to be the only person in Western Australia who had it. He spent four months of every year in hospital, had between 80 and 100 surgeries, left school at 14, and was told at 25 to get used to a wheelchair. Today, he's still walking. He went on to build a food manufacturing business to number three in Australia, lost nearly everything along the way, earned his doctorate at 69, and started Nutri-Mate Pet Foods when the pandemic stripped wet dog food from WA shelves. In this conversation, we get into why you have to be prepared to be the last man standing, how he stopped micromanaging and let his team grow the business without him, what nearly going broke four times taught him, why retirement almost got the better of him, and why your story should never be your excuse. We also go well off script, into a leg made of steel, a five-hour massage in Thailand that changed the way he walks, the rat hidden on a dog food mascot, faith, and why nobody ever asked him how much potassium is in a chicken nugget. This is the episode to send to anyone sitting on the sidelines of their own life, waiting for permission to get back in. In this episode: 05:40 A rare bone disease and a backyard game of footy 14:07 The short film that screened in 39 countries 19:55 Refusing to live a victim's life 22:21 Nearly going broke four times and selling the family home 24:44 Getting his doctorate at 69 25:23 How micromanaging nearly sank his business 30:18 “You're dead a long time” 31:15 Turning an empty factory into a national dog food brand 41:54 Why retirement nearly got the better of him 01:05:23 The best fertiliser for any business 01:07:28 Why you have to keep punching About Richard: Dr Richard Pace is the founder of Nutri-Mate Pet Foods, a Western Australian manufacturer of wet dog rolls now stocked nationally in IGA, rolling out across Woolworths and Coles, and exporting to Malaysia. Before Nutri-Mate, he spent decades in food manufacturing, growing Canon Foods to number three in Australia before selling it in 2015. Born with a rare bone disease, he was told as a young man to expect a life in a wheelchair, and instead credits swimming, the right people and sheer persistence with keeping him on his feet. His life story, Keeping Pace!: The Adventure, was the basis for an award-winning short film on the healing power of water, and 100% of the book's proceeds go towards finding a cure for his disease. He earned his doctorate at 69, and today runs Nutri-Mate alongside his two children. Outside of work, it's family first, with golf a close second. Connect with Richard: Website LinkedIn Book Short film With thanks: This episode is proudly sponsored by Cuppa Cartel . To celebrate, our listeners and the Cuppa Familia can enjoy a special rate on all coffee beans using code TRBLC at checkout. Discover your brand's potential with a free Brand Discovery session at designstudioperth.com.au/brand-discovery About Tracy: Tracy Fryer is the Director of Design Studio Perth, a branding and marketing agency dedicated to helping clients grow with confidence through brand strategy, identity, websites and marketing. As the host of The Real Biz Life Chronicles, Tracy brings raw, insightful conversations that push entrepreneurs to embrace bold growth, develop strategic branding, and lead with unapologetic confidence. Her approach is refreshingly real, blending deep expertise with a passion for authenticity, creative excellence, and business success. Connect with Tracy Fryer: Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTok | Design Studio Perth Follow The Real Biz Life Chronicles: Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube Email us at info@therealbizlifchronicles.com

October 30, 2026Episode 1651 hr 42 min

The 1% Better Method: Small Steps That Actually Build Discipline | Kerrin Watson-Smith #165

Send us Fan Mail What if burnout has less to do with how much is on your plate, and more to do with the state you’re in when you walk into your day? This episode gives you a practical way to recover without disappearing on a retreat for a week. Kerrin Watson-Smith guides you through a short reset built around three steps: move, reflect and connect. You can do it with us at your desk, on a walk, or in the car. You’ll learn how to spot when you’re running on empty, what recovery really looks like for a business owner, and the smallest dose of rest that still makes a difference. It might be three slow breaths. It might be an alarm on your phone with a gentle chime. Either way, it’s a habit you can start today. This is the second episode of 1% Better, our limited series that runs across four episodes this year. Before each one, Kerrin and I run the same 5k together on camera, then walk straight into the studio, still catching our breath, and hit record. Since episode one, the goal has grown. I’ve signed up for the Auckland Marathon, and Kerrin is running Melbourne. That means 42.2 km each, and plenty of lessons about everything that happens off the road. Training your legs turns out to be the easy part. The sleep, the recovery and the head noise when the business gets loud are much harder. Kerrin Watson-Smith is the founder of Chi-Me, my running coach and a good friend. She’s also the one who pulls me back when things get hard and my instinct is to go harder. In this conversation, she explains what constant stress does to your decisions, your sleep and your body, and why the people who insist they don’t have time to stop are usually the ones who need it most. I own up to the burnout I hit before my trip to the Philippines, the health issues that just wouldn’t resolve, along with my old habit of firing off a heated email before thinking twice. Kerrin also shares what kept her going deep into Comrades, when she dedicated each of her final kilometres to a different person and a different reason for being there. What stayed with me most is that the pause doesn’t fix anything on its own. The difficult email, the hard conversation and the pressure are all still waiting for you. What changes is the person who meets them. Kerrin calls it choosing who walks through the door, and it’s a choice you can make every morning before the demands of the day start making it for you. If you’ve been pushing through and calling it fine, this is the episode to slow down for. In this episode: 42:21 A guided reset to choose how you start your workday 45:07 Move, reflect, connect: the three steps to meeting pressure from a steadier place 54:31 Why your body steps in when your mind won’t slow down 58:13 Why drifting during a mindful moment isn’t failure 59:22 The smallest dose of rest that still counts 01:03:33 Why the people who say they don’t have time need it most 01:10:30 The recovery mistake driven people make most often 01:18:37 What kept Kerrin going deep into Comrades 01:25:49 The lie high performers tell right before they burn out 01:30:52 Why heart prints matter more than followers About Kerrin: Kerrin Watson-Smith is the founder of Chi-Me, a structured mental fitness framework built to help people strengthen psychological resilience and sustain performance without burning out. Her work bridges movement, mindfulness and practical mental training, built around four pillars: self-esteem, clarity of goals, social connection and wellness. With a background in sport and psychology, she believes mental fitness should be trained with the same intention as physical fitness. A three-time Comrades runner and Ironman finisher, she now lives in Perth, where she coaches and runs, and where this series began. Connect with Kerrin: Instagram: @thatgirlwhoruns | @chi_me_australia LinkedIn Email: inspire@chi-me.co.za With thanks to the sponsors behind this exclusive series: • Cuppa Cartel , the coffee fuelling our conversations. Enjoy a special rate on all coffee beans with code TRBLC at checkout. • Chi-Me , Kerrin's mental fitness framework. • Design Studio Perth , the branding studio behind the show. • Beam Theory , dentist designed, enamel safe teeth whitening. • MyGene , personalised genetic testing and healthspan programs. • Project Rhino KZN , protecting rhino populations across KwaZulu-Natal. Discover your brand's potential with a free Brand Discovery session at http://designstudioperth.com.au/brand-discovery About Tracy: Tracy Fryer is the Director of Design Studio Perth, a branding and marketing agency dedicated to helping clients grow with confidence through brand strategy, identity, websites and marketing. As the host of The Real Biz Life Chronicles, Tracy brings raw, insightful conversations that push entrepreneurs to embrace bold growth, develop strategic branding, and lead with unapologetic confidence. Her approach is refreshingly real, blending deep expertise with a passion for authenticity, creative excellence, and business success. Connect with Tracy Fryer: Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTok | Design Studio Perth Follow The Real Biz Life Chronicles: Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube Email us at info@therealbizlifchronicles.com

October 23, 2026Episode 1641 hr 3 min

Early Signs of Burnout Business Owners Ignore | Rebecca McClure #164

Send us Fan Mail You know you’re tired, and you keep going anyway. You answer emails in bed, skip lunch and cancel the one thing you do for yourself, telling yourself it’ll ease up next week. But it never does. This episode is about why so many business owners wait until they’re forced to stop, what running on empty really costs you, and how to start looking after yourself before your body makes the decision for you. My guest knows that cost from both sides. Rebecca McClure spent 25 years as a registered nurse in one workplace, with a reputation for clinical excellence and standing up for her patients. Then the stress caught up with her. Months of insomnia ended with her driving through a red light, and that was the wake-up call that told her it had to stop. I first met Bec through Paul Claessen’s Ignite programme, and after watching her present I knew I had to get her on the show. After a year off and three attempts to book her course, she walked away from everything she knew and, at 46, started Hydration Haus, a nurse-led IV vitamin infusion business. She gave it a three-month shelf life. Eighteen months later, she’s still going, and she says she’s having the time of her life. In this conversation, we get into the warning signs of burnout, how to push past the self-doubt that stops you from starting, why doing everything yourself is a false economy, and why you should never settle for the first opinion when something feels off. We also get into whether IV vitamins really work, how she wins over clients who are terrified of needles, and her dream of swapping the boozy work Christmas party for something that actually looks after your team. Looking after yourself isn’t indulgent. It’s sensible. And if you’ve been waiting for permission, this is it. In this episode: 07:43 Does IV vitamin therapy actually work? 12:51 Who looks after the person who looks after everyone? 14:05 The tipping point: insomnia, burnout and a red light 15:18 Walking away after 25 years 17:17 Starting a business at 46 and silencing self-doubt 21:11 The three-month shelf life 25:19 Why you can’t be a one-man band 27:44 Choosing a niche, and the clients who surprised her 42:30 Rapid fire: needles, blood tests and working on your laptop 49:41 Why do we wait to be forced? 58:59 Swapping the work Christmas party for team wellness About Rebecca: Rebecca McClure is the founder of Hydration Haus, a premium nurse-led service providing cutting-edge vitamin infusions to help clients feel their optimal best. Drawing on 25 years as a registered nurse, she brings medical knowledge, clinical excellence and patient advocacy to the vitamin infusion industry. Every client starts with a medical consult, and blood testing where needed, so each infusion is tailored to what their body actually needs. She works with people who are running on empty as well as those operating at peak performance, from women navigating perimenopause and menopause to men focused on recovery and longevity. She’s mobile across Perth, coming to homes, workplaces, hotels and events, and also works from a room in Mount Pleasant and clinics in Innaloo and North Beach. Connect with Rebecca: Website Instagram With thanks: This episode is proudly sponsored by Cuppa Cartel . To celebrate, our listeners and the Cuppa Familia can enjoy a special rate on all coffee beans using code TRBLC at checkout. Discover your brand's potential with a free Brand Discovery session at designstudioperth.com.au/brand-discovery About Tracy: Tracy Fryer is the Director of Design Studio Perth, a branding and marketing agency dedicated to helping clients grow with confidence through brand strategy, identity, websites and marketing. As the host of The Real Biz Life Chronicles, Tracy brings raw, insightful conversations that push entrepreneurs to embrace bold growth, develop strategic branding, and lead with unapologetic confidence. Her approach is refreshingly real, blending deep expertise with a passion for authenticity, creative excellence, and business success. Connect with Tracy Fryer: Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTok | Design Studio Perth Follow The Real Biz Life Chronicles: Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube Email us at info@therealbizlifchronicles.com

October 16, 2026Episode 16353 min

How to Balance Business and Family Without Losing Yourself | Kelly Evans #163

Send us Fan Mail When you're running a business, a household and everyone else's calendar, you are usually the first thing to fall off the list. This episode is about putting yourself back on it. You'll hear how to book time for yourself the way you would for a client, how to challenge the beliefs that decide what you can and can't do, what to say to the people who tell you you're doing too much, and how to ask for help when you're used to carrying it all yourself. My guest, Kelly Evans, doesn't accept "I don't have time". Her view is that the time is almost always there. What gets in the way is the story you tell yourself, and once you set your life up properly, the excuse has nowhere to hide. She has earned the right to say it. Kelly is a wife, a mum of three with a husband who works FIFO, and the owner of ASA Hair Designs, the home salon she started after having her kids. She left school at 15 for a hairdressing apprenticeship and has lived and breathed hair ever since. If she doesn't work, she doesn't get paid - and she still finds the hours to train for challenges that most people would call out of reach. Kelly has done my hair for years, and I've been asking her to come on the show for almost as long. What I didn't know was how close she came to losing herself under all of the things she was carrying. Not long ago, she was drowning. So she did the thing she was sure she didn't have time for: she flew to Bali for a five-day retreat, wrote down every belief she'd been carrying about herself since childhood, and jumped off the top of a 72 foot yacht with a fear of heights. She came home with a new perspective, a husband who finally saw the full load, and a little black book she reads every morning. We also get into why people tell their hairdresser things they've never told anyone, where all of that goes at the end of the day, and how to keep a piece of your identity when you become "just a mum". And we go well off the beaten track, into friendship cleanses, running 140 Ks in a month, the regrets her clients share, and why life is too short to wait. ASA Hair Designs has no business page and has never run a single ad. It has a chair, a calm space, and a full client book built purely on the relationships Kelly has with the people who sit in it. This episode shows you what becomes possible when you stop waiting for the right time and back yourself. In this episode: 05:38 Juggling three kids and a business from home 08:07 Holding onto who you are when you become "just a mum" 16:09 Why people tell their hairdresser everything 19:23 Where the heavy stuff goes at the end of the day 21:44 The Bali retreat and the limiting beliefs she left behind 29:20 Growing a client base with no brand and no social media 36:07 Losing a client and why life is too short for excuses 42:26 Learning to ask for help 44:08 Rapid fire: celebrity photos, bad haircuts and the excuse she hears most 47:39 Kelly flips the chair and asks me a question About Kelly: Kelly is the owner of ASA Hair Designs, a home-based salon in Tapping, Perth, where she has built a loyal client base on relationships rather than marketing. A hairdresser since the age of 15, she started her own business after having children so she could keep doing the work she loves while being there for her family. Her philosophy is simple: everyone should walk out feeling better than when they walked in. A wife and mum of three, Kelly trains with the Better Body Academy and is always working towards her next challenge - from running 140 km in a month for autism to an 80 kilo deadlift. She believes the only thing that really holds you back is yourself, and that looking after yourself comes first. Connect with Kelly: Facebook Instagram With thanks: This episode is proudly sponsored by Cuppa Cartel . To celebrate, our listeners and the Cuppa Familia can enjoy a special rate on all coffee beans using code TRBLC at checkout. Discover your brand's potential with a free Brand Discovery session at designstudioperth.com.au/brand-discovery About Tracy: Tracy Fryer is the Director of Design Studio Perth, a branding and marketing agency dedicated to helping clients grow with confidence through brand strategy, identity, websites and marketing. As the host of The Real Biz Life Chronicles, Tracy brings raw, insightful conversations that push entrepreneurs to embrace bold growth, develop strategic branding, and lead with unapologetic confidence. Her approach is refreshingly real, blending deep expertise with a passion for authenticity, creative excellence, and business success. Connect with Tracy Fryer: Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTok | Design Studio Perth Follow The Real Biz Life Chronicles: Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube Email us at info@therealbizlifchronicles.com

October 9, 2026Episode 1621 hr 21 min

Is Your Data Safe With ChatGPT? Kat Murray #162

Send us Fan Mail What's the one thing you should never hand over to AI? If you're a director, you could already be liable for data leaving your business without knowing it. Kat Murray, director and shareholder of Perigon One and Perigon Labs, explains what every business owner needs to understand before relying on AI, from the gold mine of data most businesses are sitting on to why she'll walk away from a client rather than compromise on security. She also talks about AI slop, the forced rebrand that turned into a gift, why you have to market in the good times, and the one choice she's still too scared to make. Her approach to business goes back to her first morning in Australia. It was 40 degrees, she'd come from minus five in Germany, and magpies were calling outside her window. Whenever she hears one now, she's back in that sun-filled room. She'd planned to stay a year, polishing her English while she waited out a four-year queue for a university place back home. But in Germany she'd always felt that to get ahead, you had to push someone out of the way. In Australia she found room to build a career without taking anything from anyone. So she stayed. Since then she's worked across hospitality, marketing, sales and technology. She joined one business as its fourth team member, when no one was doing marketing and no one was really doing sales, and helped grow it from $200,000 to over $2 million in under three years. That belief in people runs through everything she does now. Even the Perigon One logo shows it: turn the smiley face on its side and it becomes binary code. It's IT about people, not technology, and this episode shows what that looks like in practice. In this episode: 5:45 Growing up in East Germany and the hunger for choice 15:17 Walking into a business and knowing whether it's ready to grow 20:22 The one thing you should never hand over to AI 21:21 The data leak inside your own business 26:35 The gold mine of data most businesses never use 31:33 Automation that works around people, not against them 42:01 The forced rebrand that became a gift 50:06 Why the client rarely asks for what they need, and when to walk away 55:04 From $200K to $2M: what actually moved the needle 1:07:39 Why you have to market in the good times About Kat: Kat is a director and shareholder of Perigon One, an IT management business, and Perigon Labs, which helps businesses find efficiencies through automation and AI. She runs marketing and sales across both, helping business owners secure their systems, protect their data and use AI with confidence. With a background in advertising, PR, marketing, sales and hospitality, she's always put customer service first. Originally from East Germany, she studied marketing and management at Curtin University and has built her life and career in Perth. Outside of work, she's all about family, and she loves cooking traditional German food from scratch for the people she cares about. Connect with Kat: LinkedIn Perigon One Perigon Labs With thanks: This episode is proudly sponsored by Cuppa Cartel . To celebrate, our listeners and the Cuppa Familia can enjoy a special rate on all coffee beans using code TRBLC at checkout. Discover your brand's potential with a free Brand Discovery session at designstudioperth.com.au/brand-discovery About Tracy: Tracy Fryer is the Director of Design Studio Perth, a branding and marketing agency dedicated to helping clients grow with confidence through brand strategy, identity, websites and marketing. As the host of The Real Biz Life Chronicles, Tracy brings raw, insightful conversations that push entrepreneurs to embrace bold growth, develop strategic branding, and lead with unapologetic confidence. Her approach is refreshingly real, blending deep expertise with a passion for authenticity, creative excellence, and business success. Connect with Tracy Fryer: Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTok | Design Studio Perth Follow The Real Biz Life Chronicles: Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube Email us at info@therealbizlifchronicles.com

October 2, 2026Episode 1611 hr 13 min

How To Buy A House In Australia | Reece Sacino #161

Send us Fan Mail Reece Sacino calls himself a finance psychologist, and after an hour with him you understand why. He’ll tell you that the numbers are the easy part of the job. It's the fear sitting across the desk that takes the real work. For most people, taking on a mortgage is the biggest financial decision they'll ever make, and it usually arrives with a knot in the stomach and a head full of advice picked up at a barbecue or at 1am on their phone. Reece's real skill isn't the maths (although he’s pretty good at that too). It's untangling the stress and the misinformation, and handing people a grounded plan they can actually carry. He reckons 80% of his job is managing emotions, and only the last 20% is delivering the information. I know this firsthand, because he's helped me through it more than once - including a refinance while my marriage was ending, a big decision landing at the exact moment you're least equipped to make it. He was kind, patient, and he spoke a language that made sense in the chaos. So I wanted to get him in the studio and find out where a man learns to do that. In this conversation, we get into why he'll tell a first-home buyer they're not ready even though he only gets paid when a loan settles, why the lowest interest rate isn’t necessarily the best deal, and the circumstances where renting genuinely beats buying. We also go well off the property script into meditation and stoicism, whether we actually have free will, the moment hiring his first staff changed everything, and his admission that hitting $160 million wasn't the finish line he thought it would be. His business is Equitas Mortgage and Finance, and the philosophy behind it is simple: focus on the client outcome, and the money follows. This episode shows you the person behind that and why, after all of it, the thing he most wants you to remember is not to take life too seriously. In this episode: 5:22 From wanting to be a stockbroker to broking mortgages 9:57 The finance psychologist: why 80% of the job is emotion 12:06 Why he'll tell you not to buy 14:23 The barbecue advice that's costing you money 17:19 When renting actually beats buying 19:12 The government schemes helping buyers in 25:19 Why social media does more harm than good 28:14 The 1,600 phone calls and learning to let go 36:58 Meditation, stoicism, and taming a hyperactive mind 44:37 $160 million, and the goal that vanished overnight About Reece Sacino: Reece Sacino is a Perth-based mortgage broker and the founder of Equitas Mortgage and Finance. Born and raised in Perth, he studied commerce at Curtin University with a double major in accounting and finance, and trained under some of the state's best brokers before starting his own business in 2018 at just 21. He built it under his father's Equitas Accounting name, and to this day runs entirely on word-of-mouth referrals, having never spent a dollar on advertising. In 2025 he settled a record $160 million in loans, ranking among the top 10 brokers in Western Australia. He describes himself as a finance psychologist, spending most of his time coaching clients through the stress and misinformation around the biggest financial decisions of their lives. His approach is shaped as much by meditation, mindfulness, and stoicism as by the numbers. Outside of work, he's focused on family, friends, and finding a better balance than the one that built the business. Connect with Reece: Website LinkedIn With thanks: This episode is proudly sponsored by Cuppa Cartel To celebrate, our listeners and the Cuppa Familia can enjoy a special rate on all coffee beans using code TRBLC at checkout. Discover your brand's potential with a free Brand Discovery session at http://designstudioperth.com.au/brand-discovery About Tracy: Tracy Fryer is the Director of Design Studio Perth, a branding and marketing agency dedicated to helping clients grow with confidence through brand strategy, identity, websites and marketing. As the host of The Real Biz Life Chronicles, Tracy brings raw, insightful conversations that push entrepreneurs to embrace bold growth, develop strategic branding, and lead with unapologetic confidence. Her approach is refreshingly real, blending deep expertise with a passion for authenticity, creative excellence, and business success. Connect with Tracy Fryer: Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTok | Design Studio Perth Follow The Real Biz Life Chronicles: Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube Email us at info@therealbizlifchronicles.com

September 25, 2026Episode 1601 hr 16 min

Why Good Employees Quit | Becky Felstead #160

Send us Fan Mail Becky Felstead has made a career out of the conversations most workplaces would rather skip. Photojournalist, personal trainer, lived-experience speaker and now a workplace culture advisor and host of the Resource Podcast - she's had more reinventions than most people manage in a lifetime, and she'll tell you every one of them taught her the same lesson: look after your people, and the rest of the business follows. I'd been watching Becky's work for a good while before we finally sat down together. What struck me was her refusal to take the easy road. She left a stable path inside the mining industry to build something that didn't exist yet: a way of fixing workplace culture that most companies didn't even realise (or want to admit) they needed. In this conversation we get into why lecturing a room about being "part of the problem" falls completely flat, the turning point when she understood that the people she'd been blaming felt just as invisible as anyone, and a skill hardly anyone talks about - reading the room to know when staying quiet is the smarter move. We wander well beyond work, too: motherhood and the pressure of the clock, coming to terms with a future that might not look the way you planned, why running a business can feel steadier than the dating world, and what it takes to reclaim a voice you'd silenced for years. Anyone can hold a microphone. What sets Becky apart is the way she puts it down and listens. In this episode: 4:21 Ambition, dating, and the ticking clock 11:35 Making peace with a life that might look different 16:17 The journalist who inspired her, and the fight for change 22:36 The moment behind the camera that ended her photography career 27:13 Why living by your values costs you something every day 35:14 Starting a podcast to have the conversations nobody was having 40:07 What finally made her leave mining 49:17 "You're all part of the problem" and why it backfired 52:01 Healing before you bleed on people who didn't cut you 1:01:28 "Stay quiet, nobody likes a loud mouth" About Becky: Becky Felstead is a workplace culture advisor, keynote speaker, and host of the Resource Podcast. Drawing on years inside the mining industry and her own lived experience, she helps organisations see that people, profit, and culture are all the same conversation. She delivers keynotes and workshop series on mental health, resilience, and speak-up culture, and works as a people and culture consultant, helping leaders make sense of their people data before the gaps show up as turnover, conflict, and lost trust. She's also a contributing author to the collaborative book Try and Stop Us, writing on losing and reclaiming her voice. Away from work, she's driven by movement, the ocean, and conversations that skip the small talk and get straight to what someone believes, survived, or is building. Connect with Becky: Website Instagram LinkedIn The Resource Podcast With thanks: This episode is proudly sponsored by Cuppa Cartel . To celebrate, our listeners and the Cuppa Familia can enjoy a special rate on all coffee beans using code TRBLC at checkout. Discover your brand's potential with a free Brand Discovery session at designstudioperth.com.au/brand-discovery About Tracy: Tracy Fryer is the Director of Design Studio Perth, a branding and marketing agency dedicated to helping clients grow with confidence through brand strategy, identity, websites and marketing. As the host of The Real Biz Life Chronicles, Tracy brings raw, insightful conversations that push entrepreneurs to embrace bold growth, develop strategic branding, and lead with unapologetic confidence. Her approach is refreshingly real, blending deep expertise with a passion for authenticity, creative excellence, and business success. Connect with Tracy Fryer: Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTok | Design Studio Perth Follow The Real Biz Life Chronicles: Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube Email us at info@therealbizlifchronicles.com

September 18, 2026Episode 1591 hr 6 min

How To Get Clients Without Paid Ads | Coach Macka #159

Send us Fan Mail Mackenzie Burgoyne - aka Coach Macka - has spent years proving the same thing on the trail and in business: you're capable of far more than you think, as long as you don't give up. He gave up an $80,000 income in his early 20s to email $10 Word-document workout plans from his bedroom. He climbed Kilimanjaro alone. He ran the 1,000km Bibbulmun Track from Albany to Perth in under nine days. Ask him what ties it all together, and he'll tell you it comes back to one idea he calls his "noble quest" - a purpose bigger than the day-to-day that keeps you moving when everything says stop. I met Macka a few years ago through BNI, and I've watched his business transform ever since. This is someone who lives what he preaches. I've seen him at the front of races, socks off, blisters showing, still going. So I wanted to get him in the studio to talk about how he actually did it. When Facebook banned his very first ad before he'd spent a cent, he never went back to paid. He built DUBBEL on organic community instead, and to this day hasn't spent a dollar on advertising while leads still come in every week. In this conversation, we get into why more training won't fix your fitness if the "other 23 hours" are a mess, how he builds trust by letting people see the failures, why he frames luck as the intersection of opportunity and preparation, and the admission that this relentlessly independent founder still can't quite bring himself to ask for help. We also go well off script, into being swept toward the ocean mid-run, delirium at kilometre 700, and the uncomfortable truth about "you're just privileged." His business is called DUBBEL, and the mission is simple: put a personal trainer in the pocket of every member. This episode shows you the mindset behind it. In this episode: 1:50 Giving up $80k to email $10 Word-doc workouts 5:13 The soccer dream that wasn’t meant to be 8:27 Rock bottom, and climbing Kilimanjaro alone 14:29 What DUBBEL does and the "noble quest" behind it 21:55 Why more training won't fix you: the other 23 hours 23:58 Building trust by letting people see the failures 28:08 Getting clients without paid ads 35:55 The Bibbulmun Track: swept out to sea and delirium at km 700 44:01 Luck, belief and asking for help About Coach Macka: Coach Macka is an elite endurance athlete and entrepreneur, and the founder of DUBBEL, a tailored health and fitness system designed to help anybody reach their goals by connecting regular people with elite athletes and exercise scientists. His mission is to inspire his community to pursue the best version of themselves, and he leads from the front: an accomplished long-distance runner, in 2025 he ran the 1,000km Bibbulmun Track from Albany to Perth in under nine days. He grew up in country WA dreaming of becoming a professional footballer, earned an athletic scholarship to play and study in the USA, and - when that dream didn't quite land - channelled the same grit into building a business that's now inseparable from the way he lives. Outside of DUBBEL, he's happiest running, spending time in nature with great people, and learning something new whenever he can. Connect with Coach Macka: Website Instagram LinkedIn With thanks: This episode is proudly sponsored by Cuppa Cartel . To celebrate, our listeners and the Cuppa Familia can enjoy a special rate on all coffee beans using code TRBLC at checkout. Discover your brand's potential with a free Brand Discovery session at designstudioperth.com.au/brand-discovery About Tracy: Tracy Fryer is the Director of Design Studio Perth, a branding and marketing agency dedicated to helping clients grow with confidence through brand strategy, identity, websites and marketing. As the host of The Real Biz Life Chronicles, Tracy brings raw, insightful conversations that push entrepreneurs to embrace bold growth, develop strategic branding, and lead with unapologetic confidence. Her approach is refreshingly real, blending deep expertise with a passion for authenticity, creative excellence, and business success. Connect with Tracy Fryer: Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTok | Design Studio Perth Follow The Real Biz Life Chronicles: Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube Email us at info@therealbizlifchronicles.com

September 11, 2026Episode 1582 hr 2 min

Who Gets The House In A Divorce? | Marcus Procopio #158

Send us Fan Mail Most people meet a family lawyer on the worst day of their lives. Marcus Procopio would rather you met him before it. Commercial litigation, property, employment, wills, family law - he's seen it all. He worked for a national firm, then in-house, and in 2016 he opened a boutique practice with his own surname above the door. His name's on it, so everything he says, he says as himself. Last year Marcus gave six words of advice that got a bit of blowback: date people in your financial ballpark. Some people didn't love it. But he's not taking it back, and in this episode he explains exactly what he means, caveats and all. We get into why nobody actually understands "the system" until it's too late, the difference between prevention and cure, the divorce statistics that get worse with every remarriage, why you shouldn't invite the law into your private life on day one, what a homemaker of 30 years is really entitled to, and a 12-year property mistake that will make you check your own filing cabinet. Direct, precise, and genuinely on your side. This one's an education. In this episode: 4:53 The disclaimer a lawyer has to read before giving opinions in 2026 12:41 The real cost of not doing due diligence 18:22 How emotion overrides the logic you should be using 26:52 "Date people in your financial ballpark" - what it actually means 34:54 The divorce statistics: first, second and third marriages 50:34 The income gap, and what the higher earner isn't seeing 1:24:02 The homemaker myth: "he'll take everything" is nonsense 1:38:43 How not to fall into the will trap 1:44:19 The 12-year filing-cabinet mistake 1:55:39 The one thing to remember: slow yourself down About Marcus: Marcus Procopio is the Director and Public Notary at Procopio Legal, where more than two decades in the law have earned him a name for advice that's practical, affordable and focused on getting a result. His work spans a wide field — contracts, business and commercial matters, negotiation and dispute resolution, property and commercial acquisitions, and family law. Clients tend to remember two things about working with him: sharp, careful drafting, and a knack for cutting through complicated problems without leaving anyone confused. He says things plainly, so you always know where you stand, which is exactly what makes this conversation worth your time. Away from the office, Marcus looks after his fruit trees, plays a bit of guitar, spends time under the barbell, and keeps company with Lily, the firm's resident mascot. Connect with Marcus: Website LinkedIn With thanks: This episode is proudly sponsored by Cuppa Cartel . To celebrate, our listeners and the Cuppa Familia can enjoy a special rate on all coffee beans using code TRBLC at checkout. Discover your brand's potential with a free Brand Discovery session at designstudioperth.com.au/brand-discovery About Tracy: Tracy Fryer is the Director of Design Studio Perth, a branding and marketing agency dedicated to helping clients grow with confidence through brand strategy, identity, websites and marketing. As the host of The Real Biz Life Chronicles, Tracy brings raw, insightful conversations that push entrepreneurs to embrace bold growth, develop strategic branding, and lead with unapologetic confidence. Her approach is refreshingly real, blending deep expertise with a passion for authenticity, creative excellence, and business success. Connect with Tracy Fryer: Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTok | Design Studio Perth Follow The Real Biz Life Chronicles: Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube Email us at info@therealbizlifchronicles.com

September 4, 2026Episode 1571 hr 16 min

How To Turn A Good Salary Into Real Wealth | Andreas Kettemann #157

Send us Fan Mail Big income, no plan. Andreas Kettemann returns to break down why a high salary doesn't make you wealthy A high income does not make you wealthy. Say it again for the doctors, the directors, the business owners - all the big earners secretly living from pay cheque to pay cheque. Andreas Kettemann is back, and this time the man behind our most downloaded audio episode isn't here to talk theory. He's here to tell you where wealth actually starts: the first decision, the order of moves, what he'd do if he was starting from zero. Since we last had him in the chair, Andreas has become a dad, grown 3D Wealth by adding two staff members, and bought a business property. But his message hasn't changed. Wealth isn't what you earn, it's what you decide, decision by decision, from wherever you're standing right now. In this one, we get into lifestyle creep and the brand new car that always comes first, what a broke high earner looks like up close, why "I'll catch up later" is the most expensive lie in personal finance, the five-year hole every business owner falls into - and the one boring habit Andreas wants every listener to start the second this episode ends. It might just be the nudge you needed. Grab a pen and a notebook for this one. In this episode: 7:21 Where a strong income actually disappears to 11:36 What a broke high earner looks like up close 13:40 Wearing different hats: paying yourself like an employee 16:22 The five-year pattern every new business runs through 30:41 Save first, spend what's left - the mindset shift 38:35 Spare cash at month end - where should it go? 41:38 Super: the giant investment nobody checks 50:01 The number one reason couples split 1:03:32 The 50/30 rule for high earners 1:09:15 The one move to make the second this episode ends About Andreas: Andreas is the founder of 3D Wealth , where he helps high-income professionals, medical specialists and business owners bring clarity and structure to the complicated stuff - superannuation, tax strategy, insurance and debt. A chartered accountant with a Master of Professional Accounting and qualifications across financial planning and mortgage broking, he was named 2025 Insight Investment Services Financial Adviser of the Year. His approach is holistic and built for the long haul: he'd rather be your partner for the next decade than your advisor for a single transaction, because that's what actually creates lasting results. Outside of work, Andreas is all about staying active, spending time with family and friends, and never being done learning. Connect with Andreas: Website LinkedIn Email With thanks: This episode is proudly sponsored by Cuppa Cartel . To celebrate, our listeners and the Cuppa Familia can enjoy a special rate on all coffee beans using code TRBLC at checkout. Discover your brand's potential with a free Brand Discovery session at designstudioperth.com.au/brand-discovery About Tracy: Tracy Fryer is the Director of Design Studio Perth, a branding and marketing agency dedicated to helping clients grow with confidence through brand strategy, identity, websites and marketing. As the host of The Real Biz Life Chronicles, Tracy brings raw, insightful conversations that push entrepreneurs to embrace bold growth, develop strategic branding, and lead with unapologetic confidence. Her approach is refreshingly real, blending deep expertise with a passion for authenticity, creative excellence, and business success. Connect with Tracy Fryer: Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | TikTok | Design Studio Perth Follow The Real Biz Life Chronicles: Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify | YouTube Email us at info@therealbizlifchronicles.com