Leadership lessons from business, life, and the journey within.
Beyond Growth with Reyan Fernando is a podcast for leaders navigating the real work of business and personal growth.
Hosted by Reyan Fernando, a business leader and coach, this show goes behind the scenes to explore what it truly takes to align a team, scale a business, and build something that lasts.
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No Plan B: Resilience, Real Estate and Staying True to Yourself with Michelle Winckle
On this episode of Beyond Growth, host Reyan Fernando sits down with Michelle Winckle, Director of HayesWinckle and one of Geelong's few female auctioneers, to talk about resilience, leadership and what growth really means when there's no plan B.
Michelle shares her journey from community radio and tough years as a single mum on the dole, to listing 14 homes in her first month and becoming the number one agent across the Ray White network, before she and Daniel Hayes put their own names on the door in 2011.
Together, they unpack the reality of rebuilding after losing half a team, why climbing to the top can be easier than staying there, and how Michelle learned to take holidays, step back from day-to-day management and lead with empathy.
Key Topics Covered:
No Plan B: Why going all in, with no backup plan, sharpens focus and drives results.
The Long Game: Building relationships that pay off years later, including a 19-year listing.
Leading and Mentoring: Spotting when your people need a lift, and creating ownership paths for future directors.
Growth Through Hard Times: Finding the lesson in the darkest moments, and why you should always stay teachable.
Michelle Winckle is a Director of HayesWinckle, an auctioneer, and a mother and grandmother. She started the agency in 2011 with next to nothing, and today it is ranked among the top 100 agencies in Australia.
If anything in today's conversation has brought something up for you, please reach out to Lifeline on 13 11 14.
This episode was proudly brought to you by ISO365 - ISO Compliance (https://www.iso365.com.au/), as a Service.
You can connect with Reyan Fernando (https://www.linkedin.com/in/reyanfernando/) via LinkedIn or by heading to www.reyanfernando.com.au (https://reyanfernando.com.au/)
6 Oct 2026
Purpose Over Politics: Navigating AI, Strategy, and Organisational Roots with Robine Stephenson
On this episode of Beyond Growth, host Reyan Fernando sits down with Robine Stephenson (https://www.linkedin.com/in/robinestephenson/), founder of Straforma (https://straforma.com.au/), to explore the intersection of strategic execution, organizational culture, and emerging technology .
Robine shares lessons from her varied career—from reality TV auditions and early process innovation at the Ministry of Justice to executive roles as Chief of Staff—unpacking why traditional workplaces often struggle with burnout, politics, and strategic drift .
Together, they delve into the real impact of AI on operating models, why businesses must protect their core "roots" before scaling branches, and how leaders can eliminate the tyranny of BAU to create space for deeply human, purposeful work.
Key Topics Covered:
Roots vs. Branches: Why clarity on your foundational "why" and core processes must precede any new initiative or tool.
The Reality of AI Adoption: Moving beyond hype to automate administrative workflows and deploy agentic models responsibly.
Defeating Strategic Drift: Eliminating workplace politics and making data-informed decisions to kill off legacy projects that no longer deliver value .
Sustainable Leadership: Why responsiveness is not control, and how intentional reflection creates long-term performance.
Robine Stephenson is a failed reality TV star and the founder and Managing Director of Straforma. (https://straforma.com.au/) She helps organisations turn their strategy into behaviour, with a simple rallying cry: Stop the drift. Find your form.
This episode was proudly brought to you by ISO365 - ISO Compliance (https://www.iso365.com.au/), as a Service.
You can connect with Reyan Fernando (https://www.linkedin.com/in/reyanfernando/) via LinkedIn or by heading to www.reyanfernando.com.au (https://reyanfernando.com.au/)
22 Sept 2026
Your Next Employee Might Be AI: Building, Trusting and Governing the Future of Work with Mark Kuch
AI is changing how quickly businesses can build, solve problems and get ideas into the world. But as AI becomes more capable, a bigger question emerges: how do we know we can trust what it builds?
In this episode of Beyond Growth, Reyan Fernando (https://www.linkedin.com/in/reyanfernando/)sits down with serial tech entrepreneur Mark Kuch (https://www.linkedin.com/in/makuch/) from FieldTaskora (https://www.fieldtaskora.com/) to explore what happens when AI moves from being a tool we use to something that starts working alongside us.
Mark shares lessons from his experience building multiple technology businesses and explains why the biggest challenge with AI may not be development, but governance.
His approach is simple: if you're going to treat AI like a new employee, you need to give it clear processes, documented standards, boundaries and quality gates.
They explore:
Why sometimes the best instruction you can give AI is to slow down.
How business owners can start using AI safely and practically today.
Why the startup world is shifting from pitching ideas to demonstrating working products.
The hidden risks of AI-driven development and who is ultimately responsible when things go wrong.
What happens when AI can build software faster than humans can understand the code.
Why governance, trust and validation will become increasingly important as AI takes on more responsibility.
A fascinating conversation for founders, leaders and anyone trying to understand not just what AI can do, but what it means to actually trust it with important work.
This episode was proudly brought to you by ISO365 - ISO Compliance (https://www.iso365.com.au/), as a Service.
You can connect with Reyan Fernando (https://www.linkedin.com/in/reyanfernando/) via LinkedIn or by heading to www.reyanfernando.com.au (https://reyanfernando.com.au/)
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