How Sam Ramsden Built "Silly Stories for Kids" Podcast

So imagine this. You are juggling the demands of your business. You have four energetic kids you get to parent every single day, and against all odds, somehow you find yourself with a podcast that's topping the global podcast charts all within a year. It might sound impossible, but the guest today that I have on did it. And this guy has millions of downloads. I mean, it keeps skyrocketing, and his podcast is epic. It's actually a family favorite. So his name today is Sam Ramsden. He heads up a podcast called Silly Stories for Kids, and it's literally my daughter's favorite podcast. And this was kind of like a pinch me moment for both of us, for my daughter and me. And I actually had her guest on this podcast a couple of times. She kind of pops in a couple of times in this chat, and Sam is just so dang cool. And he breaks down. Sam breaks down exactly what he did and how this whole, like, literally just storytelling magic, it just, like, pours out of his brain right into the microphone. And how he's turned that into a. Not only a passion project, but now, who knows? It's probably going to be the thing that he carries into for years to come, because it's like literally millions of downloads and people all around the world listening to this every single day. He breaks down how he's doing it all and gets real, like, talks about all the stuff that happens behind the scenes, how he got to this point and. And all the fun stuff and the journey ahead. So there's a bunch of stuff here for everyone to take in, and you get to meet my daughter as well in here very soon. So before you get into the episode, I urge you to pause this and go over to your web browser. Type in hustle and flowchart.com clone C L, O N E. That gets you to a clone. An AI clone that has all of the podcast episodes right inside of one little magic box. You can text, you can call, or use your voice feature. You can even video me like a FaceTime. And you literally get to talk to AI Joe asking about anything about any of these episodes. Over 600 inside of there. So hustleandflowchart.com clone gets you there. It's totally free. Go enjoy. And also enjoy this episode. Let's get into it.

Hey, I don't know if it's just me, but marketers right now are feeling pretty spread thin. You're feeling the pressure to generate content, repurpose that content, launch campaigns, generate leads, score the leads. There's so much more, and I don't know if you have time to even breathe, take a moment for yourself or even run the rest of your business. So HubSpot's got the solution for you and they have Breez which is their new built in AI. It's all here to help you out. So basically what this thing is doing is it's combining the power of the marketing hub with the content hub to give you everything you need to have your best quarter every quarter. So they have tools that help you score the leads and it'll shine light on potentially your best customers. They also have AI curated analytics suites and reports and KPIs. All the things you need right there to know what's happening in your business along with co pilots and agents that help automate the task. So the idea HubSpot here is starting to make your life easier to so you get results faster. So go check it out for yourself. Visit HubSpot.com marketers to learn more. Sam, for one, I gotta give you a big props and thank you for, for, for responding for one to our wild email. That was totally out of the blue. You didn't know who I was or McKinnon my daughter.

But it was catchy. It caught the attention and next minute we're playing songs around the house going mate, I gotta talk to this guy.

Yeah, we'll talk. I mean, what the song? Yeah, I shared a couple AI the Suno AI y'.

All.

If you haven't, you know those listening and watching, go try Suno. It's like you said Sam, it's catchy. Now it's all like what's your family's been doing it, your church group and all that.

Seriously, it's one of those things. I've been sending Suno birthday songs, sending out things to the boys when they make mistakes at the electrical business. Send them a joke song for a bit of fun. It's been great.

That's great, that's good. And it's like, hey, here's a learning moment. I'm going to put it in a song.

Yeah.

Yeah. How's the. Are they pretty receptive to it?

Oh, they love it. It's one of those things where you send someone a song and when they hear their name and just random lyrics and all that kind of thing, it just creates a lot of fun and joy and then yeah, we've, we've had a lot of fun all over the place.

Well, I got to give you props because what you just said there, that is what you're doing really well at scale now too. Is creating joy and yeah. Through your podcast, Silly Stories for kids. And it's, it's, it's cool that we're having this conversation. Almost surreal in a way. And I know you probably maybe get that often when you meet parents, but like, backstory for everyone. My daughter McKenna, who sure spliced into the intro somehow in this, this episode, she might even be pounding the door to come back. But no joke, like 10 episodes a day, she's probably gone through the catalog. So she's just like, she even asked me, is he making more episodes? Like, it's literally what he's doing today. Yeah, yeah, coming. But yeah, props to you for, for doing this. And you know, like, my wife and I were like, you know what, we should just see if he's open for a, for an interview and you know, share him with even more parents who are listening. Because I know there's a lot of you listening and like you've extracted my daughter from a lot of screens. She wasn't really on, on many of them. But like, the fact that you're able to kind of slow things down in our world, I feel like. And spark creativity and then joy, like you just said, feel like that's, that's what your show does really well. So. Thank you.

Oh, it's been such a blessing to me because I, I don't know if you know too much about my story, but this whole podcast thing was not my idea. It was something that somebody else suggested, my father in law, actually, and I never really expected it to go outside my family and maybe a couple of our friends and then now for me having moments of someone on the other side of the world being like, hey, do you want to come chat? Our daughter's been listening. It's just, it's mind blowing for me. So much fun, but absolutely mind blowing. And just to see so much joy from so many different kids and hear all the different ways that this little podcast is being used and all the good that it's doing in the world, mate. I feel very, very blessed to be a part of it. So.

Yeah, man, well, I'm happy your father in law gave you that little nudge, like, take me back even prior to so. And I know a little bit about this, but set the scene for everybody else because like, you are a phenomenal storyteller and I'm assuming you really do make these on the fly like every episode.

But yeah, I'm a dad of four. I got four little girls and I run an electrical business. I do a lot of other different bits and pieces.

I'm stupidly busy, but when our oldest was going from the cot into her own bed, I just started laying down on the floor at night and I have a very, very, very busy brain. It's very exciting in there. And so I, I just started making things up, just started making up stories and little things and it just kept going and we had more kids and more stories and more kids and more stories and it just kept going and going and going. And then one day my father in law, he said, I need you to get your kids looked after. I need to talk to you and your wife. And we were both just like, oh no, what have we done? What have we forgot? We thought we were in big trouble. And then he took us to a pub and just sat us down and said, hey, I've been watching you tell these stories for a long time now. He's like, I want you to turn it into a podcast. And he'd been researching it and all kinds of stuff and he's like, this is how it works and I want to back you. If you want to do it, I'll push you and we'll see how it goes. And so I was like, sure, I'll, I'll start recording a few little stories. I honestly thought it would be something that hopefully my kids would be able to show their kids one day of the moment that their granddad went insane or something like that.

So.

But yeah, as it started going, people just started listening and it was just, it was wild. It was a wild and still is an absolutely wild little journey. So loving it.

It's. It's been what, almost two years I believe, right? Something.

Nah, not even one, so.

Not even one.

We started in November last year, so.

And just crossed a million downloads, right?

Yeah, well.

We'Re running a promo at the moment. We, well, it literally just ended. We did a competition for our million. But what most people don't realize is that it's, it's firing. So we're actually over one and a half million now. So we'll be, we'll be pushing the 2 in the not too distant future, which, mate, talking those kind of numbers just explodes my head. It's one of those things that you just can't kind of comprehend. The funniest thing is when I actually kicked it off because I get excited about things and just want to get rolling. So we, we actually started it two weeks after our youngest was born. So we had a two week old when we kicked this thing off. And it's. Yeah, not The. Not the wisest decision, but so much fun.

So. All right, I got so many questions, which, like, this leads to a great. Yeah, it's always a good time when I'm feeling this way. Was your. Was your father in law, like, was he just obsessed with podcasts or like, was there like.

No, he's one of those people that just. He's quite entrepreneurial and just sees the world in an amazing way. And he literally listened to my stories and went, what can we do with these? And then started researching it for himself and stumbled onto podcasting. He put in like two months worth of research before he spoke to me about it. So not his space, not anything. Like, he runs an insurance dry cleaning business. Working with insurance companies. He's done a whole bunch of stuff over his lifetime, but nothing in the tech space, nothing in audio, nothing in media, but just. He's one of those people that. He's amazing. I lucked out with in laws. They're amazing. But he just saw what I was doing. He's like, this is too good not to share. So he saw stuff in it that I didn't. And every time something big happens, I'm always like, I cannot believe this. He's like, I saw it coming.

That's good to have. Especially if he's a researcher and kind of not too quick to open his mouth, I guess, about things.

He's really wise. He's really wise. I hope he doesn't listen. I don't want him to hear that.

Go to his head too much.

That's. That's awesome. So you, you said you run an electrical company? Is that your company? Yeah.

Yep. So I've got it. That's the, that's the company there. Ramp Electrical. Which, funny story behind that one. I never wanted to run an electrical company either. So I was. I was working as an electrician and I always told everyone, there is no chance you will ever find me running my own business, ever. But two months before me and my wife were about to get married, the company that I was working for liquidated. And so she was still studying full time and I had to grab work. And there was this little program that was going at the time, changing electrical meters. But to do it, you had to set up a company. So I was like, oh, yeah, I'll just do that for a bit and then I'll find another job and I'll get back into that. But then that fell apart. And then all of a sudden I'm newly married, supporting a wife, trying to pay bills and everything. And Got a company. I was like, guess I work for myself now. So we just been rolling with it ever since. I always joke with a lot of my mates that I run a side business called what not to Do Business Consulting, because I have stuffed up absolutely everything. But I'm so grateful for it at the same time, because the lessons I've learned through making every single mistake in an electrical company has prepared me so much more for stepping into this podcast space and trying different things. And just the confidence of even when everything falls apart, it's okay. And as long as you just keep rolling and, like, got your family stick together and just work together and do whatever you can, it's actually okay. So, yeah, that's been our little journey.

That's a huge lesson, man. And I mean, I love it. What Not To Do Business consulting company. I mean, because you and I both, and I think a lot of people, because I've interviewed a ton of them and some really know the research behind this, but it's like, a lot of us are visionaries. We're quick activators. So we get an idea and literally, like, two hours later, we have a company formed legally. Yeah. Not just in our brain. Yeah. We're moving and we're like, what do we just do? Yeah.

Yeah.

I've learned over the time that I've learned what I'm good at, and I'm learning a lot of the things that I'm really not good at, and learnt the importance of having different people around and how much that can just influence the success of anything that you do. Because I am not great at admin. I am not great at a lot of things. I'm creative, I have big ideas. I can. I enjoy system and process a lot of the time, which is quite strange. But I need someone who can make sure that that turns into something that is transferable to other people, that works outside of my brain and can get some accountability and all that kind of thing. So I've just learned the importance of having a real diverse skill set and diverse set of brains working together for something to go really well, I guess.

Like, in that role, because, yeah, it is kind of a nice spot where you can have these ideas, but also you. You appreciate systems, I guess. Are you. Are you good at the systems or are you, like, delegating those out? You're pretty good, Adam.

Nah, I'm good at creating a system. I'm not good at sticking to it myself, but I can create a system that works for other people. So in the electrical business, I really Enjoy having a look at, like if we're doing a certain set of testing or something, consistently putting something together that helps anyone that steps into that role make sure that they can complete the testing the way we want it done, to the quality that we need so that the product that we're handing over is at a standard that represents the company that we want to be. So for me, I can create something like that, but if you put me in that testing role and expect me to stick to my own system, my brain just goes wild and I'm doing all kinds of other things and thinking in every single direction you can imagine. But I, I enjoy that process, if that makes sense.

It does, because I am that person too. I'm very similar. That's why I have an ops manager that literally checks in almost daily. And just like, did you get your emails yet? Or, you know, whatever it is, like the consistent. Certain things stick, you know. But yeah, how have you done that with the podcast? Because at least from what I've understood, you're a one man show as of yet.

Yeah, well, it's, it's just developed at the start I, because I was so excited about it. There's just so much excitement and you just want to keep going. You just want to get it done. You just want to do the next thing. You want to do the next thing. My wife is really good for some accountability. She knows what's going on, she knows where I'm at. And if I'm kind of trailing behind a little bit, she'll very gently be like, hey, have you had a look at this? And I'll be like, oh yeah, Yep, got to do that, got to do that, got to do that. And we've just kept pushing on. I'm pretty blessed now through my electrical business. We were doing some testing at a house and I'm quite a chatty person. I always like to kind of get to know people. I find people really interesting, so I love to hear their stories and where they've come from and what they do and all that sort of stuff. And I was chatting to this lady and when I called to say I was on my way, the number that came up on my phone said Kaizen Media. I was like, I wonder what that is. I'll ask when I get there. And I'm chatting to her, I'm like, what's Kaizen Media? She's like, oh, it's my husband's business. He helps a few podcasts grow and do a few bits and pieces. And I was like, oh, Yeah, I run a podcast. And then I saw the look on her face of like, yeah, every man and his dog has a podcast. You got no idea. But I think she must have looked us up or something while I was doing the testing. So at the end she's like, I think my husband might actually want to talk to you. And so, long story short, ended up chatting to this bloke. He wasn't just some guy that worked with podcasts. The few podcasts that he worked with was like professional golfer, professional AFL football player, and he'd been heavily involved in one of the major radio stations here in Melbourne as their content director. And so we met up and he's like, I'm at the stage of my life where I just want to do things that I find interesting with people that I like. If you want some help getting this thing off the ground, I'd love to help you. So he's jumped on board and he's helping us kind of work on a little bit of that business back end kind of stuff, which it's like what we're talking about. It enables me to focus on the creative and focus on the stuff that I find really important, which is the impact, the creating joy, the having an opportunity to really speak some truth and some love and some happiness into families and that sort of thing. And he's on the back end. So whenever I get asked to do something now, like, we're just starting to make a tiny bit of money here and there on some bits and pieces, but he's happy to handle all that money conversation stuff so that I can say, hey, yep, I'd love to do that talking, that talking spot here. I'll flick you through to my manager and I can just keep that happy, light, involved Persona and not need to worry about the back end. So that's been a massive blessing.

That's a, that's probably one of the most important things. And obviously your note, you're not new to the business rodeo because the electrical company is like a decade at least, right? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So it's not like you're just jumping in. So I think it's, it's smart and you know, is like, because I've monetized my podcast in so many ways, but that's my background. Like, I think media and marketing and how to monetize. But I love the fact that you just said like, the whole essence of everything you bring is fun joy. Like there's a bigger mission of impact. And yeah, I think you don't want to Lose that ever.

Well, that was the thing that scared me about monetization. I'm like, how do I make something off this without betraying my audience, without losing the integrity of what this thing is? Because I don't know. As it developed and as it grew, it just became its own thing. And it was something that. As it grew, I'm like, I want to protect this. I don't want to compromise it. I don't want to do anything to kind of jeopardize how it's working, because I just get story after story of different families and different kids and stuff that it's doing for people that I would have never predicted or expected or even imagined. I'm like, cool. Like, I put a heck of a lot of work into this. It'd be great if we could make a little bit of something from it. But most important thing for me is that. Is that impact side.

That's awesome. And. Cause I've heard some other kid podcasts and a couple of these, like, I've heard. I'm like, why is there a Shopify ad in the middle of this? Like. And, yeah, like. And literally, I've had to explain ads to my daughter, McKenna. I'm like, yeah, you know, and this is why. And she's pretty quick, luckily, because she's. She's heard the. My wife's also an entrepreneur, so it's like she just hears it, which is good. Good and bad, maybe, but. But yeah, I'm just like, you're not gonna want to buy this thing. And that's what this thing is aimed to do. And. Yep, that whole. So, yeah, it's. It's tricky. It's gotta be more tricky than ever for kids, too.

Man. Well, what you've done well is yodo Player, because that's one where literally, like, I don't know if that was a sponsored thing or just partnership either.

That was like, the most joyful little coincidence ever, because I didn't even know what a YODO player was. And they were moving towards Australia to launch there, and they picked up a PR company in Australia called Sling and Stone, who. They're incredible. And they just said, hey, is there any local Australian talent that you reckon it'll be worth connecting with? And similar to you, the lady who was running it just had kids that were listening to our podcast, and they're like, hey, let's. Let's have a chat to this guy. And they reached out and I'm like, what is this YODO thing? And then the more I looked into it, I'm like, this answers everything that I find tricky with kids podcasts. This thing's amazing. They sent us a few and then they took us up to Sydney to do an event with them. And yeah, I know that they've got other stuff in the works, so it's been such a joy working with them and they're just such a fun, generous company that it was just like, oh, this just works so well. And for me, first kind of dabbling into working with a company on the podcast kind of thing, it's been a real blessing. The funny thing was on one of their first press releases, like, I'm new to this kind of world, I don't live in the media type space or anything. And they've sent me a little document of like, oh, can you have a read of this and let us know if you're happy with it to be put out? And then there's my name in the same kind of context as like the Roald Dahl family and all this kind of stuff. I'm like. And so I think I get confused. So Paul McCartney. I'm like, hang on a second, what's my name doing in this little thing? It was a massive laugh. So I was just like, oh, if you wouldn't mind just moving my name right up next to Paul, that'd be, that'd be great.

But good request.

Oh, mate, it was, it was a real. I'm going to be continuously shocked every single time anything happens with this podcast because I always err on the side of it's not going to happen, it's not going to go anywhere, but over and over again. I'm just surprised.

On the growth side, I'm super curious because I mean, it. Just how fast it's picking up and why would it slow down? Because at least I think there's a need for slowing down. Not, not the growth of your show, but in, in terms of life. Like, you know, just screens. You have AI now, you know, and there's obviously both sides of this. And that's how I see it. Where do you think their growth's coming from? Or like, the bigger, I don't know, like, do you have any ideas behind it or like, the bigger impact with kids? People, I don't know. Like, I'm always fascinated about people too.

I think, I think I did one thing well when I started it and I, like, I can get hyper focused on things sometimes. And so before I kick this off, I was just like watching every YouTube video I could find on podcasting, setting up a Podcast how to do it, what to do, what to use, muck it around with all different kinds of bits and pieces. But I put heaps of thought into what I was gonna call it. And so, like, I had these clever, witty names at first. I had like a few joke names as well that were just like my kind of laughing thing in the back of my head. But then I really thought about it and when I picked silly stories for kids, I was like, we've got some alliteration, we've got searchable terms, we've got something that's just gonna crop up in people's spaces. And I think we've just managed to have people stumble onto the podcast and love it and just want to share it. And so we've got a lot of growth from people just telling their friends and telling other parents and all that kind of thing as well. But it just keeps naturally planting another seed of one of those people every time somebody accidentally stumbles onto it. And partnering with yodo, that kind of blew our numbers up something chronic. Because all of a sudden all these people that had YODO players are finding silly stories for kids on there and going, oh, what is this? This is cool.

And then is it like a featured in the player?

Yeah, they, they put us up the top of their kids podcast section for a bit at the start and I just watched our numbers just go and I was like, oh, okay, this is, this is a lot of fun. We, we also had a bit of a blow up in Australia when I still don't know how, but our podcast managed to trend number one for kids and family podcasts in the world for a moment. And so for a few weeks there, we were trending number one. And I was just laughing my head off about it because it was one of those things. I'm like, I've cheated the algorithm or something here. But yeah, a couple of the news stations and stuff around here, like, put us on the news and we had a couple of little interviews and all that kind of stuff. So that gave us a real kick in the backside in regards to Australia. And then, yeah, just keeps rolling from there. But it's funny because you get like, all of a sudden you're number one in Cyprus and you're like, who the heck's listening in Cyprus? I'm like, it's, it's so much fun.

It's incredible. I mean, but you're putting in the work, man. And yeah, it's early, but the fact that you have so much joy and like, it's not like it started with the podcast. That's what I think is so cool, is you have your four daughters and, you know, like, obviously you have some younger ones that haven't probably totally grasped, you know, like, your storytelling abilities.

It's so much more than that as well. Like me as a person, I'm someone who loves to be silly, be creative, bring joy in weird and interesting ways. So I've been doing stuff at a local church youth group for shivers, like, 17, 18 years now kind of thing. And I've just seen that creativity spill out in all different areas of there, like making up ridiculous game nights that involve some alien that the kids find in a back room who's one of the leaders. And then they have to go on adventures to, like, find eggs and collect rocket fuel and build rockets and then blast off into the future and all this kind of stuff. But I learned over the time that when you're working and serving as well in a way that just completely aligns with who you are, the joy that you find in that is astronomical. And then when you get to see that joy transferring to other people, it becomes it's not work, it's just something that is just absolutely amazing, which is why I'm pushing so hard with this, because this is where I find so much joy. I love sharing, I love being creative, creative and all that kind of stuff. And I love seeing the impact. So, yeah, it pushes you to keep rolling and just keep putting in the work.

So it's the best, man. Yeah. And you found it. And like you said, most people, I mean, don't find that they feel like, yeah, it's a have to, not a get to kind of situation. Right. Yeah. And you found it early. I'm going to pause this really fast to go shout out another podcast that I think you should peek. Peek at yourself. It's called I Digress. It's hosted by Troy Sandage, and it's also brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. Thank you. And what I love about this podcast is that it keeps it short and snappy. It's actionable and to the point it's under 30 minutes. I digress actually helps you eliminate a bunch of complexities and complications, confusion when it comes to your business. Your marketing gives you a bunch of frameworks and strategies to help you scale and actually be sustainable with whatever success means to you. So go check it out yourself. I urge you to go listen to I Digress. Wherever you get your podcasts. Are you tired of the hassle of building sales funnels. I totally get it. I've been there. You started your business not to be change your laptop all day. You build it for freedom. And thankfully there is an all in one platform that makes it easier easier for you so you can focus on attracting customers online. The platform is called Kartra and it gives you all the tools you need to grow your business. The best part is Kartra comes stocked with all the done for you campaigns so you don't have to worry about thinking about building from scratch. Everything is designed, connected and written for you already. It also leverages AI to help you with some of this writing. All you got to do is just customize this to your liking and then boom, you got a fully built sales funnel for you. This is marketing made easy. So go try it out for free. 30 day free trial over at hustle and flowchart.com Kartra will get you there. So again, that's hustleandflowchart.com K A R T R A. I mean well. And you get a lot of practice with your four daughters, of course. And I'm super fascinated with like storytelling in general. Ironically, the episode I recorded the other day was all about storytelling. Yeah. And you know, it's geared towards basically professionals, you know, like, hey, tell a story so you can connect with someone. You kind of projecting what your, your background was and then connecting that way. And of course could be used for sales, marketing, whatever, connecting in general. But with kids, like it's a whole different flavor. I don't know. Like, could you walk me through how you think about these things? Maybe the formula, I don't know, secret sauce behind it or it's secret sauce.

To be honest, it's. I have a different brain. And for me it's one of these things where like initially when I was telling stories, I started recording a couple on my phone just so if I wasn't around or something. My wife had something that she could chuck on for the kids easy. And it was just strange because I never thought about it, but all of a sudden I looked at the recordings. I'm like, they are all a similar time frame. This is really strange. So without any like clocks or anything, I was kind of just following a pretty similar pattern in regards to how long things were running. But for me, my storytelling process.

Most people would probably pick up on it. I've got ADHD and I see it as a bit of a superpower in regards to what I can do and all that kind of stuff. But when I'm Sitting down to tell a story. I literally press record and take the brakes off and just let the brain run. And I follow it and I just run with it and just keep talking, whatever I see, wherever it's going, and just keep rolling and rolling. And so it's something that I feel like over the time, I've spent a lot of time talking to different people, interacting with different people, and you just get to learn and understand how people work. And so that's all just kind of ingrained in the back of my head. And I spend heaps of time, like, working with kids, hanging out with my own kids, being fun, being silly, learning what works, seeing the reactions on people's faces that it's all just in there. So as you're going, you're rolling, and just watching this picture kind of develop in your head and just narrating what you see, and you get to the end of it and go, cool. That was fun.

So that's awesome, man. It's almost like, yeah, you're. Well, you said you took the brakes off, right? And you just let it pour. And obviously you have a unique brain, so you're just leaning into your own self, right?

That's the thing. And that's why it's so much fun, because it's using my brain exactly the way it's designed and the way it works and seeing some real positive benefit coming out of that. Because so often, like in the electrical business, it's all about trying to keep this under control, keep the brain where it needs to be, making sure I'm paying attention to the jobs, checking the right things, all that kind of stuff. And that takes work. Whereas when I sit down and press record, it's just freedom.

So, like, have you always had this out? Obviously you've had. You have four daughters, but you haven't always had your daughters. And the church is also an outlet, it sounds like, but, like, I don't know. Did you have, like, a different side of you prior to that? Wasn't as free feeling.

My dad, he's. He's fun. He was always super fun. As we were growing up, he was in a band called Joint Ayres that did some ridiculous, silly things, like people jumping out of, like, balconies of the center onto, like, crash mats and setting up trampolines and orchestra pits and all kinds of things. So from a young age, we just. We always had fun and we always did silly things. And I learned really early on that I love making people laugh and I love making people feel bright and joyful and so I think it's something that has just consistently been a part of who I am. Doing silly things, all that kind of stuff, just to have fun and make sure that people are actually, yeah. Enjoying things. So I think it's just integral to who I am.

So you're made for man like that. It's perfect.

Yeah.

I mean, that's. It's crazy. And it's not crazy because it's exactly what we should all be doing. I mean, and it's. I don't know, it's. Sometimes. Do you have anything. Like, if you were to talk to people who have maybe some friction in their life and obviously everyone's situations are different, but. Yep. Yeah. I don't know, like anything like even the fun factor, because I know there were phases in my life, stuff got hard, got difficult, stressful. I lost my dad. Unexpected. Like, things like this, I'm like, yep, the world doesn't seem that fun right now.

I've been there as well. When all the COVID stuff hit my business, we copped it from everything. My electrical business, we got burnt by builders. We lost major contracts through no fault of our own. I lost my mum over Covid as well.

And it was hard. And there's times when life isn't easy. Like there's. I see life as it's up and down and if you expect anything else, you're kidding yourself, but the reality is remaining present and in those moments and giving yourself space and all that kind of thing is super important. And I've actually. I started seeing a psychologist a little while ago because after Mum passed away and all this stuff was going on, I wasn't in a bad spot, but I just didn't feel that same self. There was just something that didn't quite feel right and so something that I'd often heard and it was something that had been floating around in the back of my head for a while. Was everyone.

Like.

I've heard it a few times where people say, you service your car, why wouldn't you service your brain? And so sitting down with a psychologist and talking through a few different bits and pieces and just realigning where I was at and what was going on in my head and learning to give myself some grace when I failed or didn't quite make the expectations I had for myself was super important in restoring that joy. So I've become quite a believer that everyone should be checking in and just kind of learning where their brain's at, because you often don't know a lot of the Stuff that you're thinking and a lot of the stuff that might be holding you back or stopping you from being able to excel. And in that as well, something at the moment which I just feel super challenged with. And I've got to speak at a couple of schools over the last little bit, primary schools and secondary schools and that sort of thing. And a big thing that I've been really encouraging kids to do is to start to get to know who they are intrinsically, not the airy fairy, like, know yourself, who are you? All this kind of stuff that can get a little bit fluffy. But, like, who are you? Are you a creative person? Are you a technically minded person? How does that kind of work? And then encouraging them to explore what it looks like, to use who you are, to work, to serve, to interact, all that kind of stuff. Because I think when you can create a lifestyle that's in line with the person that you are at your core, that's when you find real great joy in your work, in what you're doing, and all those kinds of other things. So I think there's a little bit of, yeah, because everyone's different. And a question which I've learned to absolutely love. It's something that, because I, like, do youth work, I hang out with a lot of different people. I've started asking people this question and it is awesome, is I ask them to describe what it looks like for them to think. And you get an unbelievable insight into a person when you say, hey, what. What does it look like for you to think? Cause you get people who think in checklists, you get people who think in. I had a guy who said my brain's a bit like an Excel spreadsheet, except when I look at a cell, it starts referencing cells on other pages. And so I'm going through all that information. I have a really good friend who has autism, and I was like, hey, tell me, what does it look like for you to think? And he's telling me about how he. When someone's talking to him, he has the information come in from them, but he almost rolls dice in his head to try and find information in his own brain that relates to what they're talking about. And then the next time I was chatting with him, I saw him look up into the corner of the sky and I'm like, he's rolling the dice, he's finding the information. And it just gives you such a better insight into people. And for me, myself, thinking about that and thinking about what it looks like to think really helps because in those times when you're overwhelmed, like, for me, it scares people sometimes when I tell them what my brain works like, but it's me in the middle and there's just stuff coming from every single direction. And so I'm trying to grab onto one thing. And while I'm holding onto that piece of information, everything else is like punching me in the face, trying to grab my attention. And if you push one of those things away, another five things try to squeeze into that spot. And so for me, in those times when I'm massively overwhelmed, I can go, hey, I know that all this stuff is going to keep coming and it's okay. I'm just gonna try and focus on this one thing that I need to focus on or I need to put in a strategy now because there's too many things happening. I'll pull out. I got a remarkable tablet. I'll pull that out and I will just write and write and write whatever is in my head. And just understanding the way my brain works and the way I think is really helpful for those moments when you do feel overwhelmed, outta control, all those sorts of things. It's so cool, dude.

That's an. It's so good. Yeah, I wrote it down. Describe what it looks like for you to think. Just, I mean, a journal prompt right there, you know, or walking meditation. Just talk it out, whatever it is. Like.

Yeah, and it helps. Interacting with other people as well. Like asking your kids or your friends what it looks like for them to think can give you such an insight into different moments where you might have this awkward social moment. But understanding how they think can actually answer a lot of those questions. It's so cool.

That's a good point. Like, if there is this quote unquote, awkward silence, like maybe you said something and there's a gap in time. Yeah, you know, it. It might feel weird, but like there's thinking happening, most likely, you know? And yeah, there's a book I'm rereading for like the second time, but I feel like I should reread it like a hundred times. Untethered Soul by Michael Singer. Have you, have you read that one?

Nah, I. I can't read books. It's not my thing. I'll listen to books. Put a book in front of me to read. Not going to happen.

Well, here's how I'm technically doing it is. I'm having a reader. It's called 11 Labs Reader. I think you'd like it. You can take any kind of text and basically it has an AI Voice, or you can have a celebrity even read it to you. But, like, I have it to me. I agree. Yeah. But what it. Basically, there's something in there is like, yeah, we should all have this time where we're watching this. The voice inside of us, like, the brain, it's a supercomputer, but we're not necessarily that brain. That's just a part of our body. But if you listen to it, then you start to understand what it's doing. And a lot of it, it's just crazy talk, but at the same time, it's like, yeah, if you. If you note what's happening. But I like the way that you say it. It's like, describe how it actually, like, how it looks to them. So it's almost like, what's the system? Like, what are the patterns that you're catching?

Yeah.

Because that's probably not going to change for the rest of your life, I would imagine.

But giving yourself an awareness of it, even, like, asking people to describe it, seeing the change in them once they've described what it looks like, it's so cool. I love that question. It's just fun.

That's good. And it's empathetic, like. Or you can have more empathy for people around you, like, once you understand how. Dude. Yeah. What's the reaction with kids? Because that is 100 what I'm going to take to McKenna and just, like, in a fun way. Of course not.

Yeah.

Drilling.

Well, I think for them, it's just because they haven't overthought a lot of things. Often they just, oh, it's like this. And they just spit it out. Like, I had one of my nephews, I said to him, I said, what does it look like for you to think? He's like, oh, just see pictures. And so sometimes it takes me a little bit longer to respond because I've got to have a better look at the picture in my head. And I was like, oh, this is so cool. Or I asked my daughter and she was like, it feels quite swirly. There's a lot of things swirling around. I'm like, oh, you're gonna turn out like me. But it's just fun and it just gives you insight into your own kids. Just because, like, parenting is tricky at the best of times. Trying to understand what's going on in a kid's head can be so tricky. And so I have a big belief that you just need to spend time learning and getting to know your kids, because every kid is different. Every kid is astronomically Different. And so what one kid's needs would be absolutely poorly helpful for another kid and would actually do damage. And so it's about getting to know your own kids, getting to know the kids that you're around, learning from the mistakes that you make. But, yeah, the more time you get to spend with your kids, learning how they work, learning what makes them tick, the more joy that you kind of have in that family experience. And so, yeah, that's one of the things we're really passionate about.

Well, and I love that you have that passion. And I mean, through just. It wasn't even a lot of research. It's obvious that you have that. That's why you even do this show. But the whole reframe I've had with this podcast over the years is like, I want to show people you can actually create a great life. You can have business or businesses, but it doesn't have to feel like work. It could be fun and bring joy, and you can create a great life through the whole process. Yeah, but, like, don't do it solo. Also do it with your family, if you have one, you know, or friends, whatever it is. Yeah, like, that's what it sounds like. Keeps you going, man.

Yeah. And I'm a little bit different in a lot of respects. I think one of the big things for me that I've learned is money is not a driver for me at all. Money is a means to an end. And so if I'm paying bills and doing all that kind of stuff, then I'm happy. So it's not something that I feel the drive to earn more, make more, anything. I find the people side of things so much more interesting and so much more important. So for me, I will often make poor financial decisions, but for the people side of things. But I think it's one of those things of understanding what is achievable and what is okay. Like, I was really blessed when I finished school. I got to have some incredible experiences. There was a guy who was quite a visionary, who. He was like, hey, I feel like there's a few young people here that just need some life experience. And so he took us and we lived in the city and hung out with homeless people each night, just listening to them and talking to them and hearing their stories. And we went to live. Well, we went to stay in Canberra, which is where parliament is in Australia, and we hung out with politicians for a week and just spent time getting to know them, understanding how they tick, what goes on in their head, all that kind of back end Stuff that you don't see from, like, the stuff that's in the. In the actual Parliament House kind of thing. And then they took us to Papua New guinea as well, and we hiked Kokoda and then lived in a village that most of the people there had never seen white people before. And it really just reset your perspectives on so many things. It reset my perspectives on how people can end up in a situation. It's not as simple as everyone thinks. It resets your perspective of those in power and thinking how much they do or don't have it all together and realizing that they're just people, just like anyone else. And it really reset my perspective on the importance of things because you're hanging out in this community where they have literally nothing, and they're handing you the little thing that they do have because they care more about people than things, and they're twice as happy as anyone back home. You're going, okay, cool. How do I. How do I make all this line up with how I see the world? And so, for me, it's learning that, hey, it's. It's fine to earn. It's fine to work. It's kind of fine to do all these things, but if that's my focus, I'm not going to be happy in who I am. So I need to make sure that my focus is always on the important things. And if the other things come, then great. I've got nothing against it. It's. It's fantastic. Like, I feel like hard work should be rewarded, and a lot of these people will be putting in hard work, but making sure that my focus is still on my family, my relationships, and now at this stage, creating joy and fun and, yeah. Having some impact for some other people, it keeps things straight.

So that's awesome, man. Yeah. And that's the. A big thing. So I got to give my thanks to Heather, my wife that you met earlier. Is. She. She's just like, what's. What's enough? Like most entrepreneurs, when you have.

Yep.

So much coming at you, and I'm sure you'll see it even more. So, you know, the. The more popular the show gets is like, more demand. More. More of me is popping up.

So. Yeah.

You know, but, like, what's enough in general that these commitments can lead to and could drive you away from the whole core thing that you started from the beginning.

And that's, like, what you said. The importance of having other people around you is so important because sometimes when you're caught in a moment, you can Lose sight of the big picture. And so having someone around you who goes, hey, is this where you were saying that you wanted to be going? You're like, oh, is it? I don't think so. We might need to do a bit of a reset here is really important. And like my wife, she's unbelievable. I am. She's way too good for me. Hence why I had to ask her the question quick before she realized.

But she's, by the way.

Oh, mate, it makes the biggest difference having a life partner who is on board, who is supportive, who is encouraging, and who you do this life together with. So even in moments where it might be me up the front of something and then it would look like it's by myself, it feels like nothing but family. I've got my wife with me, I've got my kids with me. Even if they're not physically present, they're just integral to so many of the important moments of everything. I just think that, hey, having a crew around you who loves you, cares for you and has the same outlook and the same values is super important. Don't have to think the same, but you need to be aligned on the same values. It's fantastic.

Yeah. And that's. I'm gonna. I'm texting my wife right now to send my McKenna, my daughter back in to say bye bye. But give her a heads up. But you're right. I mean, it's the. And that's where for a lot of the over my years of doing business, like, I would go to an office, travel back and then I would. I always had this poll like I needed to. I want to come back to. Yeah, I work out of my house. Luckily, I was able to spin this around, you know, quickly. Today on a Sunday, I'm like, totally, we can make this work. And oh, Ken is here. That didn't take long. McKenna, we're going to wrap up. Is there any question or maybe a voice or a character you want to ask about? Or maybe here, leave that there.

Who, McKenna, who's your favorite character?

You like Pimpin? Would you like to hear the Pimpin voice?

All right. Hello, McKenna, it is me, the Pimpim. I am so happy to see you today because I always wondered what you looked like after I heard your amazing song. It was so much fun. You taught me so much. And now I get to be very, very silly. Because you know what? I got control of the computer and I have been playing with the AI music and I have made lots of silly, silly songs. They are all About Teddywinkle and how Pim Pim is far better than Teddywinkle. Hey, Pimpim, you are not better than me. I'm better than you. No, no, no, no. I am the best. Everybody knows and everybody says it on all the comments. Pimpim is the best. No, you're not. Anyway. Hi, McKenna. It's me, Teddywinkle. I just wanted to say hi. I hope you have a fantastic day. Okay. See you later.

Boy.

That was awesome.

That was great. Thank you, Sam. Bye, dad. You the man.

You later.

That was great. I also made a sandwich them in a spaceship and we're going to outer space on my birthday. Song. Weird.

You might say beeper.

Yeah. Ooh. But he heard your song. That's when I shared with him.

Yep. It was so good.

Maybe I'll play it here as part of this podcast.

So good.

All right. Say bye. Bye. Thank you, Sam. You rock. Keep it up.

Watch your foot there. There you go.

So, yeah, we'll wrap it up there. Thank you. That was easy. I'll be right. I know it's dinner time. That was good. I'm happy. Let me close it. All right. Yeah. So we'll officially wrap her up. But just to. What's. What's something that you're like. What's a crazy idea or something that you're in your. And yeah, I know you have a lot of them, but like. Yeah, well, just something that's like. What's the thing right now that's like keeping you up at night?

Oh, mate, there's. There's a couple. There's a weird little idea that I've got at the moment, which is I was sitting the other day and then all of a sudden I just saw this thing in my head, which was a really big live show with voices, with songs, with stories, with all kinds of stuff happening. And so at the moment there's a lot of just random notes and things that are getting jotted down. There's song lyrics, there's all kinds of stuff. But in that my long term. We hold it with open hands. But it's always fun to think of a big idea of where you'd love this thing to end. But I had this idea of my electrical company being involved on an impact level, not on an operational level. Working my way out of that one and doing a lot of work in this silly stories, creative space. But in that I have a real heart for kids and young people and I would love to work for our church or another mission organization kind of thing. But my dream is for that to be self funded so you're not becoming a burden on anyone around but you've created a well you've had help to create a space where you can find yourself to be able to do some really positive impact stuff and yeah be able to do it self funded so that's, that's my hands open. I'd love to end up here one day but who knows?

It'll happen man and probably the most interesting way possible. Of course it will you know and I know the way that you let in things in in your brain and in the world now so bound to happen it's just a matter of when and that's good fun dude well I appreciate you so very much and keep doing what you're doing and I know there's, there's a lot more headed your way and I know she'll be even more obsessed now so hey thanks so.

Much mate really appreciate it.

Of course Sam.