You already know what you think. The hard part is saying it out loud, and staying yourself once you have.

You'll learn:

• How to take harsh feedback without swallowing the cruelty that came with it
• Two questions to ask before you say yes to a stage, a client or a room
• How to think straight for someone whose brain has gone offline
• Why AI sounds so human, and why that should make you trust it less
• What the 10 December Privacy Act change means if your business uses AI to make decisions about customers
• Why poor sleep can be a menopause symptom, and what to do if your GP doesn’t take you seriously
• A ridiculous trick for turning down the voice in your head

By the end, you'll know what it takes to be honest at work, with other people and with yourself, and still be the person they booked.

Key topics: leadership integrity, harsh feedback, authentic leadership, values alignment, AI ethics, AI governance, Empire of AI, Karen Hao, The AI Con, Emily Bender, cyber security, Privacy Act, GDPR, privacy law, self-talk, mindfulness, sobriety, menopause, perimenopause, frank advice

Chapters:

00:00 - Intro
(00:51) Why EJ, not Emma Jane
(02:05) When a keynote misses the mark
(08:05) Checking the fit before you say yes
(11:16) From Air Force lawyer to cyber law firm
(12:38) Who AI is built for
(17:20) Why AI sounds so human
(19:50) Privacy Act changes and your business
(24:59) Mirror Mirror: the wardrobe cull
(31:39) Turning down the voice in your head
(35:43) Between the Lines
(36:27) Twenty years without a drink
(39:38) Picking the wrong fight
(43:15) Giving frank advice after a cyber incident
(48:42) Why prevention beats response
(51:25) Menopause, sleep and being believed

#NakedAtTheTop #Leadership #AuthenticLeadership #AIethics #CyberSecurity #Menopause #PrivacyAct #LeadershipPodcast

Where to find EJ Wise:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wiselaw3/
Wiselaw LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/wiselawandcyberconsulting/home/

Thanks to AIXFamily for sponsoring this episode. AIXFamily is the parental control platform built by a dad of three after a decade in network security couldn't turn up a tool that met his own family's needs. It runs at the network level, so deleting the app or switching on a VPN gets your kids nowhere, and every block comes with an explanation for them.

Join the waitlist for founding-member access before it launches:

🔗 https://www.aixfamily.com

STORIES FOR BUSINESS NEWSLETTER:
https://storiesforbusiness.substack.com/

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🎥 YouTube – https://youtube.com/@NakedAtTheTop?sub_confirmation=1

🍎 Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/naked-at-the-top/id1822169203

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CONNECT WITH ALEYX
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You built the business so you'd have more time. So where did it go?

In this episode of Naked at the Top, the founder of an outsourced bookkeeping and CFO firm, 19 years in with a team of 30, explains why he never wanted to be the person who runs it. Damian Scodella of SquarePenny has lived by one rule in every job since his early twenties: make yourself redundant. He has handed the running of the business over twice, most recently to a leader promoted from within. He also wears a jacket covered in logos to networking events, on purpose, so there is nowhere to hide.

You'll learn:

• Why "make yourself redundant" has been his rule in every role for 30 years, and what he does with the time it frees up
• The difference between profit and cash, and the one habit he gives clients who keep asking where their money went
• What happened the Tuesday a major client walked away with no notice, and how a strategy coach turned it into growth from 10 staff to 20
• How a Friday morning basketball game became the place a group of dads say things they don't say anywhere else
• Why 5am to 7am is the only time he takes for himself, and what those two hours pay for
• How a diagnosis six weeks before a planned move to Italy changed what time is worth to him

By the end you'll have a sharper answer to what your business is for, and what your time is worth.

Key topics: stepping back from your business, making yourself redundant, profit vs cash flow, losing a major client, men's connection and wellbeing, morning routine, time and family, business owner leadership

Chapters:
(00:57) Embracing Vulnerability: The Jacket Story
(08:23) Building a Brand: SquarePenny's Unique Approach
(10:49) Leadership and Delegation: Making Yourself Redundant
(15:48) Personal Reflections: The Impact of Time and Health
(21:54) Finding Balance: Work, Life, and Self-Care
(25:31) Understanding Financial Realities
(26:41) Client Education and Financial Habits
(28:04) Creating Safe Spaces for Men
(32:02) Navigating Business Challenges
(36:26) The Importance of Support Systems
(40:50) Dealing with Life's Significant Changes

#NakedAtTheTop #Leadership #BusinessOwner #Founder #AuthenticLeadership #CashFlow #MensMentalHealth

Follow Damian:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/damianscodella/
Website: https://squarepenny.com.au/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/squarepennyau/

Instagram (Jacket): https://www.instagram.com/where_is_the_jacket/

Thanks to YourHR for sponsoring this episode. YourHR works with 100s of businesses to cut the jargon, simplify the systems, and build workplaces where people genuinely want to be. Find out where your business stands with their free HR Health Check in minutes:
🔗 https://www.yourhrsystem.com/health-check/
💼 https://www.linkedin.com/company/your-hr-team-and-system/

Thanks to AIXFamily for sponsoring this episode. AIXFamily is the parental control platform built by a dad of three after a decade in network security couldn't turn up a tool that met his own family's needs. It runs at the network level, so deleting the app or switching on a VPN gets your kids nowhere, and every block comes with an explanation for them.
Join the waitlist for founding-member access before it launches:
🔗 https://www.aixfamily.com

STORIES FOR BUSINESS NEWSLETTER:
https://storiesforbusiness.substack.com/

FOLLOW NAKED AT THE TOP
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nakedatthetop/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/naked-at-the-top/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nakedatthetop/

🎥 YouTube – https://youtube.com/@NakedAtTheTop?sub_confirmation=1

🍎 Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/naked-at-the-top/id1822169203

🎧 Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/1lCQJthCpq39LkWXDlkwCf?si=9ef0f76a91cd4bd0

CONNECT WITH ALEYX
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleyxward
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Being the person everyone leans on is lovely until the day you need to lean back.

In this episode of Naked at the Top, a marketing consultant who has built a community of 18,000 marketers across Australia and New Zealand talks about the LinkedIn post she almost did not send: the one where she told everyone she was broke. Chanel, founder of The Marketing Club and of a new co-working space in Brisbane, walks through what it costs to be the person who builds the room, and what happened when she had to admit that the thing she built now needs a brain that works differently to hers.

You'll learn:

• Why posting the unflattering version can be freeing and how to find where your own line sits
• What it takes to say out loud that the business you built has outgrown the way you think
• How a community of 18,000 started as a coffee meet-up announced on stage on impulse
• Why hitting 10,000 changed how brands treated her, while nothing about the work changed at all
• How to use delusional optimism as a working method rather than a personality trait
• What an introvert did to become the person who walks into a room and owns it
• Where the line sits between authentic leadership and offloading your bad day onto your team

By the end you will have a clearer sense of what your own honesty is worth in public, and what it costs to keep building rooms for other people.

Key topics: authentic leadership, community building, founder honesty, vulnerability on LinkedIn, letting go of control, business restructure, delegation, first hires, marketing community, co-working, isolation of working alone, self-belief, AI in marketing

#NakedAtTheTop #AuthenticLeadership #CommunityBuilding #FounderStory #Vulnerability #BusinessOwner #MarketingPodcast

Thanks to YourHR for sponsoring this episode. YourHR works with 100s of businesses to cut the jargon, simplify the systems, and build workplaces where people genuinely want to be. Find out where your business stands with their free HR Health Check in minutes:

🔗 https://www.yourhrsystem.com/health-check/

💼 https://www.linkedin.com/company/your-hr-team-and-system/

Thanks to AIXFamily for sponsoring this episode. AIXFamily is the parental control platform built by a dad of three after a decade in network security couldn't turn up a tool that met his own family's needs. It runs at the network level, so deleting the app or switching on a VPN gets your kids nowhere, and every block comes with an explanation for them.
Join the waitlist for founding-member access before it launches:
🔗 https://www.aixfamily.com

Follow Chanel Clark:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chanel-clark/

The Marketing Club: https://www.themarketingclub.org/

The Coworking Club: https://thecoworkingclub.org/

STORIES FOR BUSINESS NEWSLETTER:
https://storiesforbusiness.substack.com/

FOLLOW NAKED AT THE TOP
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nakedatthetop/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/naked-at-the-top/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nakedatthetop/

🎥 YouTube – https://youtube.com/@NakedAtTheTop?sub_confirmation=1

🍎 Apple Podcasts – https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/naked-at-the-top/id1822169203

🎧 Spotify – https://open.spotify.com/show/1lCQJthCpq39LkWXDlkwCf?si=9ef0f76a91cd4bd0

CONNECT WITH ALEYX
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleyxward
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aleyxfward/