Handpicked with Naomi Simson

Liam Forde ran a big business in London. His confession? "I turned into an asshole."

So he spent the next 26 years teaching people not to be like him—creating transformation experiences for leaders across 40 countries.

Now he's relocated to Australia for his grandkids—and he's starting completely fresh. No networks. No contacts. No idea where to begin in the Australian market.

His questions are brutally honest: Where do...

January 2020. New CEO. Six-month-old baby. Seven weeks later? COVID hits.

That's how Cara McLeod stepped into the CEO role at Mahlab—and somehow that chaos became the launchpad for international growth.

But here's the problem: Mahlab does bespoke strategy work. Everything is custom. Every project needs people. More growth = more headcount. The classic service business trap.

So how do you scale what on paper looks hard to scal...

What do you do when you've built a successful business in a niche that most people don't even know exists? Oliver Lonergan went from selling lollies in primary school to running Professional Picture Hanging—a 12-person operation spanning Australia's east coast and London, with major contracts including Crown Sydney and luxury hotels. At just years out of school, he's facing the classic scale-up challenge: how do you grow from...

Join Naomi Simson as she mentors Jash Fullinfaw from The Print Bar through the critical challenges of website re-platforming, scaling print-on-demand operations, and maintaining customer experience during rapid growth. From SEO migration strategies to revenue model prioritisation, this episode delivers actionable insights for any e-commerce business navigating technology transformation while preserving what makes them special.

The ...

Join Naomi Simson in conversation with Adriana Brusi, Managing Director of CrowdsNow, as they dive deep into the real challenges of startup life. From the three critical mistakes that derail new businesses to why authentic relationships trump expensive marketing campaigns, this episode reveals the uncomfortable truths about building a business that lasts. Discover why your customers should be your best ambassadors and how to create...

Hello, I'm Naomi Simson — and we’re back with a brand new season of Handpicked, my podcast where real business owners bring me their real questions.

Season five is here (can you believe it?), and wow — the entrepreneurs have really brought the big ones this time. We’re talking about everything from how t...

Venkatesh has been in business for almost a decade and he is really wanting to scale. I ask him to consider the constraints of the business and what is holding him back. He wants to know if being boutique is good and how to appeal to larger customers - as a twist at the end I ask him to dream about what his business will look like in five years time. Do you dream about what is possible?

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