Meet the team behind Amanzi Surf, Clayton Nienaber and Jeremy Dean.

Clayton is a high-performance surfing coach and has worked the cream of the crop. His style is part brutally honest feedback and part mind-bending allegories.

Add to that picture Jeremy Dean, Amanzi Surf's "IT guy.” By trade, this barrel chaser is a digital product manager and marketing professional in the tech field. He's applied his talents and love for the water to growing the Amanzi Surf community.

In this episode, get set for one "Claytonism" after another. These little golden nuggets of surfing knowledge are priceless for any surfer, whether you're a grom or world-class. Hear how Clayton has come up with these hacks to help anyone with their surfing.

At every stage of the journey, Clayton and Jeremy's love of surfing has sustained what they do. If you're having fun, it shows in the product.

Tune-in for a raw conversation stuffed with surfing advice and business lessons. And don’t miss out at the end of the video Jade being coached by Clayton and going arse up!

Key points

[00:15:50]: How Clayton and Jeremy started their business by planning an online program, with Clayton Nienaber recording a gazillion "little golden nuggets."

[00:20:45: Clayton talks about finding "trigger words" or hacks to help people with their surfing

[00:23:25]: Clayton is known as an epic surfboard shaper. How did he become a coach?

[00:33:35]: Surfing's more crowded now that everyone has time to do it

[00:35:10]: When Clayton was learning to be a shaper he felt like a fraud because he was just copying

[00:36:55]: Clayton's steps to figuring out the right board

[00:39:05]: All about the business of surfing: adding things and learning, figuring out their market and their pain points

[00:43:40]: A Claytonism for catching waves and pushing the cream out of Oreos

[00:46:10]: Talking about the creation of one of their viral posts and how it came about

[00:57:40]: Surfing's a tough sport; you have to love it. Same with business. You've got to enjoy what you do.

[01:04:45]: Tackling points of frustration as they grew their business; Jeremy on why price anchoring was so crucial

[01:10:30]: The catalyst for change: they got disillusioned but then got back into making the videos and keeping the vibe fun

[01:16:50]: The wave of progression: you got to suck before you get better

[01:21:20]: Jeremy on survival in a corporate world. It's like working five jobs at once. Lesson learned–you don't need a suit and tie to be successful.

[01:29:10]: What matters in selecting a brand. Picking brand names and what you need to do first

Connect with Clayton Nienaber and Jeremy Dean

Amanzisurf.com

Clayton on Facebook

Clayton on LinkedIn

Clayton on Instagram

Jeremy on Facebook

After a four-year stint in the U.S. Army, a one-semester attempt at Law School, and switching careers from corporate finance to commercial real estate, John Lee Dumas has gone on to found and host an award-winning podcast, has become an author, and has interviewed thousands of entrepreneurs. It is that dynamic background that makes him the perfect guest to show you how to build a kick-ass team.

Learn more about his journey on the Barrels & Business show — How to Build a Kick-Ass Team with John Lee Dumas.

Key points

[00:01:19] Three-hour morning routines don’t start overnight. John’s morning routine lasted a mere 15 minutes when it began, but has since grown to three hours over the course of six years.

[00:06:07] It's not a blanket, X, Y, or Z. It's a sit-down, individual, what would make this the best job for you?  People should not only have a chance to voice what’s important to them but they should be heard on an individual level since they are the only ones capable of doing exactly what they do.

[00:08:29]  Empowering your team. “If we can satisfy people’s growth, their contribution needs, and they feel like there's some significance there - then you're helping to fill up that cup and grow as a human. It's going to make them less likely to leave.”

[00:09:31] Discussing the current mass resignation issue. People are resigning for two reasons. They hated their job to begin with, and the pandemic has made people think about what is most important to them.

[00:13:49] Staying social despite working remotely. With people working all over the place domestically, and internationally, meaningful interactions must be scheduled and followed through on. 

About the Guest

John Lee Dumas is a former active-duty U.S. Army Officer and the founder & host of Entrepreneurs On Fire, an award-winning podcast where he interviews inspiring entrepreneurs to help people along their entrepreneurial journey. He is also the author of The Common Path to Uncommon Success, your 17-step roadmap to financial freedom and fulfillment. During his career, Dumas has interviewed over 3,000 entrepreneurs, including Tony Robbins, Seth Godin, Gary Vaynerchuk, Barbara Corcoran, Tim Ferriss, and more.

Teams that don't bond won't build a solid business.

According to high energy trainer, speaker, and mentor Jason Everett, many companies still have not gotten away with boring training in the boardroom. In this episode of Barrels and Business, Jason dives deep into the role of games and play in creating special activities that increase team performance and how transformational experiences drive energy into individuals or organizations. 

Watch ▶️ How To Create Lifelong Bonds Through Adversity With Jason Everett.

Key points

[00:06:02] Welcome to the show, Jason! He shares his earlier volunteer experience with Big Brothers Big Sisters in the US as the most meaningful example of why bonding moments are the best life teachers.

[00:09:45] Jason shares the value of his first firewalk and ice bath experience in the presence of other participants. "The difference of 10,000 people in one mindset to do something versus a couple of people supporting you versus if I would just do it by myself is drastically different. Finding a perfect group with 12 to 20 people is a good place to start and do it."

[00:12:44] Lessons from driving rally cars and the efficiency of learning from play and games can make one a different person. 

[00:13:47] The magic of learning is in the debrief of the experience and unpacking lessons from the person's point of view. They discover their own answers to, “Who are you? What happened in that scenario? How can we take this back to business? How do we take this back in an environment that will impact everyone else?” 

[00:15:32] As a team member and leader, participating in games and challenges draws out the rawest emotions that you default to in your most stressful situations. 

[00:24:23] Jason reminds us how normal it is that when you become much bigger than you think possible, you will immediately come under attack from all the people you have intimidated by making you feel small.

[00:28:29] When your people can come to their realizations through play or experience, they will remember it 100 times longer than anything you've ever told or tried to teach them. 

[00:30:58] With the war for hiring top talent right now, what will set you apart is how you provide transformational experiences that money can't buy for them.

[00:33:31] As a coach or mentor, Jason reminds us how people are just waiting for the invitation for them to become more. 

Jason Everett is a 3rd generation business owner with a passion for living life, not 100% defined by work. Over the last 10 years, he has worked with hundreds of businesses, and thousands of individuals turn up their performance and get more from their efforts! Jason works exclusively with people who believe that good enough doesn't exist and that nothing is impossible. He loves helping achieve something people thought was out of their reach, and now it's the new standard.

Connect with Jason Everett on Facebook

Jason Everett Official Website

I am deeply honored to share the screen with Aluba Fenix, an executive coach and sports psychologist with over 20 years of experience. In this episode, Aluba emphasizes the constant need to reset and recalibrate our views and values, focusing on aligning the mindset and spirit and unlocking the full potential of an individual or a team in achieving high-performance outcomes.

There is still an awful lot of work to do to make the corporate world more human. Business leaders need to recognize their duty to care for their teams and implement approaches and programs acknowledging that we are working with humans (and not machines).

The biggest skill that we lack as a modern society is an openness to conduct respectful dialogues. We struggle to listen to dissenting voices other than our own. We're only looking for information confirming our beliefs and losing the humility that we could be wrong. Whether in Business or how we run governments, we urgently need to shift around this inadequacy that creates polarization and contempt among ourselves. 

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion - post-COVID.  How people are shamed for their medical decisions and different groups taking a stand for and against vaccination demonize each other. Marginalizing people who are saying no on this issue is a question of how we've really embraced diversity.

Grow your Business, grow your team, but most importantly — grow yourself. Back in the day, companies would find it absurd to hire coaches and pay them to help workers focus on self-development. The emphasis was on teaching sales skills, objection handling, and the real tactical things. But when businesses recognize that unless an individual does the inner work necessary for self-leadership — they will not be as effective, productive, and profitable in the long run.

Professionalizing corporate athletes. Aluba shares how there's much to learn about how Ireland became the 'world's best rugby team.' That wasn't always the case for them until they changed their habits as athletes. "When I was growing up, I knew quite a lot of the players going for the whiskey and partying after the matches. That doesn't happen anymore because today, they understand that what you do off the pitch is equally, if not more important than what you do on the pitch." Should we adopt the same discipline and professionalism as successful sports teams have, we can change the game and win as business organizations.

Some organizations are further ahead than others in terms of how they view their people. Today, more emphasis is on how people are the source of competitive advantage in the digital economy. Business success no longer depends on how well you do processes or having the most brilliant strategies. The best edge of every company is understanding the science of creating a happier, healthier, and more engaged workplace. 

Tune in to this powerful episode of Barrels and Business ▶️ How To Recalibrate Your Views & Values For Success
 with Aluba Fenix.

Aluba Fenix is a Leadership Coach with over 20 years of experience in the technology sector and a background in Sport Psychology. He is passionate about human potential and how to unlock it to deliver performance outcomes that create a better world. Aluba works with both individuals and teams across the globe, helping them develop the energy, mindset, and habits necessary to perform at their best. His mission is to enable people to access the full power of their imagination and create lives full of passion, purpose, and flow.

For more information on Aluba's work, visit www.vivid-imagination.co.uk

Key points

[00:00:00] Introduction

[00:02:33] Jade welcomes Aluba Fenix and the tale behind his family motto

[00:04:38] Aluba's origin story and spiritual rebirth 

[00:08:44] The African experience and discovering why life is meant to be lived not as an individual but as a tribe

[00:11:11] Why the starting place for leadership is always inner work 

[00:14:47] The corporate world needs to become more human 

[00:15:06] People are the source of competitive advantage in the digital economy

[00:17:08] Jade on why the fate of humanity rests on the shoulders of the business owners and the business leaders

[00:28:21] Aluba tells how we're losing our capacity to accommodate dissenting voices and why that's a real serious problem.

[00:29:53] On embracing diversity and shaming the unvaccinated

[00:49:17] We need the skill of knowing how to participate in respectful dialogues

[01:02:08] Business and rugby

[01:04:48] Pursuing a disciplined approach to your active rest and recovery is fundamental to your professionalism as a corporate athlete.

[01:05:45] The culture of overwork 

YOU FINALLY FOUND THE ONE! After a dedicated recruitment process, you finally found the right person for the job and it’s time to start the onboarding process.

Now you just need to make sure you don’t mess it up! Did you know that 70% of people start looking for a new job within 90 days of working at a new place?

The last thing you want is for all your recruitment effort to go to waste! There are many strategies you can use to ensure this doesn’t happen and Kyle Probert and Jade are here to help you NAIL YOUR ONBOARDING process.

Kyle is the head of APT Training and he’s working with Jade to transform his business from the inside out with amazing results! Fresh from a recent onboarding process, they have excellent tips that can help you succeed at it! 

One of the main keys is making sure the period between making the offer and Day 1 goes through without a hitch! How can you do this? You want to keep your new employees ENGAGED during this process. Remind them of how excited you are to have them be part of the team and make them feel valued.

After signing the contract (and make sure it happens fast after they accept the offer, you don’t want them to get poached!), you can do little things such as sending them a video of the office and the layout there, or inviting them to a social activity with the team.

The goal is for the new recruit to feel like part of the team BEFORE THEY EVEN BEGIN. Other small things you can do are giving them their uniform early on or setting up a buddy system, choosing someone from the team to engage with them and make them feel welcome.

You should also make sure you have your training processes recorded and that you can provide them AHEAD OF TIME. That way, they won’t feel lost during the first day and you can ensure they understand your business’ values and virtues from Day 1.

Oh and Day 1? EXTREMELY IMPORTANT! You want to make sure you make time for the new employee during their first day. Make it part of your day’s schedule! The goal is to make them feel welcome, ensure they have everything they need to excel at their job, and answer any questions they might have.

But what happens when things don’t work out as expected? What if it turns out they’re not a good match for the position?

As Jade says, “hire slow, fire fast”. It’s not about giving up right away if they need some adjustment time, not at all! It’s about understanding when to let someone go and learning from that experience and what you can do better next time! 

If they are not meeting the business’ needs and they are not growing, it’s a lose-lose situation for both of you! It’s better to accept when it’s time to move on.

And if you have the right person, you want to make sure they stay on. So you better nail that onboarding!

Learn more about the three key strategies to ensure this happens! Go NOW

Key points

[00:00:00]: Welcome to Barrels and Business!

[00:02:12]: Land-based training to improve surfing skills. 

[00:06:40]: The importance of making the process between job acceptance and the starting date as straightforward as possible.

[00:08:49]: Making sure everyone feels comfortable and that the new employee knows they’re valued. 

[00:13:53]: Strategies to use before the start date so that the employee feels confident and as part of the team from day 1.

[00:21:22]: Managers need to include into their day’s agenda time to welcome the new employee and continue the onboarding process.

[00:23:26]: Creating a virtual onboarding manual to ease the process of learning the values and virtues of the business.

[00:28:05]: Making the onboarding process an introduction to the culture of the business.

[00:35:28]: The fears associated with recruitment, onboarding, and not choosing the right person. 

[00:40:38]: Having the right perspective when someone decides they want to search for new opportunities somewhere else. 

[00:44:07]: Reimagining the role of a current employee. 

[00:50:46]: When to hire someone who has the right energy and attitude but not all the skills and when not to. 

[01:02:37]: Delegating tasks someone else can do to be able to focus on the things only you can do and stay in flow. 

[01:03:54]: Painting the picture for the team to make great ideas a reality.

In 2008, Brett Vowles and Shelley Hedley became business partners with franchised retail stores in Sydney. They were shopping for roller skates and noticed a minimal number of stores that carried roller derby equipment, roller skates and inline skates in general. Always searching for new opportunities, the couple easily saw a hole in the market for roller skates. They took the leap, moved away from a franchise model and started their own brand that became a huge hit in the market. 

Learn more about their inspiring story of the Barrels & Business show — The Business of Skating and Connection with Shelley Hedley and Brett Vowles.

Key points

[00:02:49] Lean in and discover Shelley and Brett's origin story delving into the business that started when they saw the 'problem' of limited stores that had a good range of roller skates and provided expert opinions.

[00:10:39] Why understanding your customer and how you can increase the lifetime value is the secret sauce to success. "They come in to buy the kid's scooter, and later on, the whole family comes in to buy again from that one purchase."

[00:15:53]  How do you start? Find that niche market and communicate with them. Finding the niche needs to have a balance that it's not too small but also not too large. The brand needs to have a specific direction. The more specific you are, the clearer your brand becomes.   

[00:22:08] Understand the benefits and pitfalls of going with a franchise versus your own brand. Buying a franchise is easier, yet there are pros and cons on those fronts.

[00:37:30] Changes in technology and what you're able to do without having this physical presence in like 100 different shopping centres, you know, so that's where we had to learn to like, pivot and change quickly. 

[00:39:50] When COVID hit, they focused on the best performing shops. As leases ran out, it was a necessity to let shops close. "We put the focus on the website, and since, the website has grown at a crazy amount, and it's now one of our best performing shops."

[00:43:21] Creating the trend for rollerskating. Everyone was in lockdown, and as it is an individual sport, parents who used to do that 20 or 30 years ago got skates again, and their kids too, all of a sudden, you've got a big resurgence and roller skating. 

[00:57:38] For business partners that are also married couples, it is imperative to segment your time and put in a schedule so that you do have that one-on-one time with family and that time where you can spend on to the business. 

[01:05:00] Sell products that your people also love. "Going out on a skateboard, going for a ride or a scooter, these items make people feel happy. So it does definitely help to have products that people love. Most of our staff own most of the things that we sell, which definitely helps."

[01:11:03] Harness the brainpower, ideas and creativity of your team. Jade believes that this is something severely underutilized in a lot of small to medium businesses

About the Guests 

Shelley Hedley is a Canadian born entrepreneur and co-founder of Skate Connection and Coast Skateboards. With 12 years of experience owning retail spaces with a background in design and marketing, she moved to Australia after graduating with a Bachelor's of Human Ecology focusing on textile science and later completed a post-graduate in design. A mother of 2 sons + 1 stepson, Shelley is an ex-roller derby player and loves the balance between roller skating and yoga. 

Brett Vowles is a New Zealand born entrepreneur who moved to Australia in 2002. The co-founder of Skate Connection and Coast Skateboards, Brett has 16 years of experience owning retail spaces with a study background in accounting. He is a proud father of 3 and always chasing the kids on skateboards and scooters. 

Skate Connection was founded in 2013. Skate connection is a scooter/skateboard/roller skate store that provides friendly advice from industry experts. Their showrooms have provided fun wheel products from families to athletes who enjoy the surf/skate lifestyle. 

IG: @ skateconnection.com.au 
FB: https://www.facebook.com/skateconnectionau/

Have you CONNECTED with your soul?

And what on Earth does that mean? Also, how can this impact your business? Danny Salfield interviews Glen Casey and me in this episode and let me tell you, Glen is one of THE MOST soulful people out there!

This conversation was SO GOOD we ended up doing a post-show after the episode “ended”. We just couldn’t stop talking!

After a transformative experience in his 20s in which he connected with his soul, Glen had an entirely new perspective on life. This allowed him to become a successful brand manager, and he was the one responsible for bringing Patagonia to surfing in Australia!

However, his life hasn’t been without setbacks and it was RECONNECTING with himself and his soul that allowed him to keep going! 

Glen is as vulnerable as it gets during this episode in which he provides excellent tips and strategies for business owners like you.

Glen talks about his “two Ps” involved in growing a brand. These are PEOPLE and POSITION. It’s all about connecting with others and offering things they truly want or need. He also talks about the importance of NOT OVERSELLING for the sake of making more money! 

The key to long-lasting relationships with clients is to give them what they need and then THEY’LL KEEP COMING BACK FOR MORE.

Glen also talks about strategies such as changes in pricing and how to enter a new market. He has firsthand experience and has learned a thing or two about marketing to a NEW AUDIENCE, which can be a very scary endeavor.

We also go deep into the importance of leveraging the VIRTUES of a company to keep it true to the culture and goals you have set for it. Also, we talk about how YOUR LEADERSHIP has a ripple effect on the entire company and all employees AND clients.

Remember, WHAT YOU DO IS WHO YOU ARE and just talking about it is not going to get the job done. 

As Glen puts it, taking ACTION is what is truly going to make your business thrive. Plus, you can also apply this to your personal life.

There is SO MUCH to unpack here, from amazing business insights to the importance of connecting with your soul and truly bringing your ENTIRE EXISTENCE to a new level of balance.

Are you ready to connect? LISTEN NOW! 

Key points

[00:00:00]: Welcome to Barrels and Business!

[00:03:26]: Danny’s experience at Rip Curl and how it shaped the way in which he saw branding.   

[00:07:18]: The lifetime of brands and how they evolve once they start growing at a fast pace.

[00:15:51]: The importance of thinking about the true needs of the client before attempting to sell them every possible thing. 

[00:22:21]: How a change in pricing can create awareness about a new brand in a significant way.

[00:26:09]: Finding a connection between your current product and audience and that new audience and the product you want to offer.

[00:33:27]: How Patagonia branded its items to encourage people to buy its sustainable products even if they were more expensive.

[00:41:26]: The importance of the ripple effect of leading by example in different contexts, including waste management, sustainability, and planet plus strategies.

[00:49:26]: How Danny found himself and his brand after losing everything he had both in his personal and professional life.

[00:57:06]: Connecting with the soul and the incredible impact it can have in the growth of the business. 

[01:03:23]: How to build a digital vision board and why it leads you to achieve what you want. 

[01:13:43]: Danny’s life-threatening experience jet-skiing.

[01:19:40]: Men-father programs to increase connection and bring back intimacy into the relationship.

[01:22:32]: Letting go and learning from all experiences by connecting to the soul.

Connect with Glen Casey & Danny Salfield

Website: www.caseandcoproductions.com

Instagram: @glen_casey and @sandpitdanny