This is a father daughter collaboration. In many ways we are Yin and Yang.
Ian: Baby Boomer
- Man
- Businessman
- Logical
- Coach to senior executives
- Sportsman
Jess: Gen Y
- Woman
- Professional singer and songwriter
- Creative
- Career Counsellor
- Personal Trainer
Throughout both of our lives we've noticed an important thing. No matter the job title, gender or age of people we meet many (even those working in high-performance areas such as sport, business, professional artists, etc) underestimate their capabilities and potential. We have also seen how powerful learning to reflect and think more deeply about your own life can be on helping each of us to better manage our own potential and purpose and to find a healthy path forward. The cumulative impact of one powerful personal reflection and insight can spiral into an enormous impact on day-to-day life. Here is a little bit more about each of us and our indiviudal journeys:
About Ian
My abiding interest in all my activities is the development of people's capabilities and relationships (including my own), their identification of opportunities and the magnitude of what people can achieve and contribute in their lives.
I have seen this through my experiences in my youth (as an actuary, Rhodes Scholar and international tennis player) and in the subsequent years through leadership positions in businesses and not-for-profit organisations - and above all as a husband, parent of three and a sibling of five.
Over the past twenty years I have coached dozens of CEO's and senior executives through Foresight’s Global Coaching and have mentored many more in career transitions.
I am currently chairman of Billabong International and of RGA Reinsurance Australia, a director of Milton Corporation, SCA Property Group, the Purves Environmental Fund, the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists and LifeCircle Australia. I also serve as an adjunct professor at the faculty of business at the University of Technology, Sydney.
I have a number of degrees including a recently conferred Honorary Doctor of Business from Macquarie University. The subject I most wish I had studied in my youth is psychology so I have somewhat made up for that in my readings in the past two decades.
For information about my last book "Investing in your life" click here.
About Jess
I am a career and creativity coach who holds a Masters in Education (Career Development) and specialises in working with young adults and artists. My road to discovering this passion has not been a straight one and has involved a range of parallel paths, including in music, sport and preventative health. I am particularly interested in what shapes our individual sense of identity and how we can each learn to set up sustainable practices in all aspects of our physical, mental, social and spiritual lives.
Having worked as a professional singer and songwriter for the past 9 years I have experienced and witnessed many of the career and life challenges being faced by emerging and established artists. Since completing my Bachelor of Music at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music I have been lucky enough to tour and perform around the world including shows at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC, concerts in Mumbai and music festivals in Italy. Closer to home my work with bands including Toucan, Rufus and Timmy Trumpet has given me the opportunity to tour nationally in back to back Big Day Out tours, Falls Festival, Listen Out Festival and major national tours with Rufus and artists such as The Kooks.
After noticing high rates of injury and low career development support for myself and other students at university I began my studies into career Development. While on the road touring I studied my Graduate Certificate in the Career Counselling of Elite Performers (Victoria University), followed by a broader preventative health focus including a Graduate Certificate in Social Health and Counselling majoring in drugs and alcohol (Macquarie University) and my Certificate Three and Four in Fitness (FIA Fitnation) - including working as a personal trainer from 2013 to 2015. I have also just recently completed by Masters of Education majoring in Career Development with a focus on creative and holistic approaches to career/life design. This study has led me to internships with The Australians Women’s National Soccer Team, the Macquarie University Elite Athlete program and the development of a workshop titled ‘a sustainable approach to a career in the arts,’ which focused on personal development tools and resources for emerging artists.
As well as music and research I have always greatly enjoyed sport being an avid sailor and snowboarder. From ski seasons in Japan, to my proudest sporting achievement of winning a bronze in the World University Games in Crete, I cannot get enough of sport and the outdoors.
Where else can I find them?
To learn more about Jess's business CareerSet and Ian's previous book 'Investing in Your Life' you can click on the following pictures:
Ian's Favourite Quotes:
“Play each shot to make the next one easier.” Tommy Armour
“I worry less about embarrassment than about missing an opportunity.”Nassim Nicholas Taleb
“If you adopt a pattern of life that focuses on golden eggs and neglect the goose, you will soon be without the asset that produces the golden eggs.” Stephen Covey
Jess's Favourite Quotes:
"Between stimulus & response is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom." Victor Frankl
"I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience and compassion. These are your greatest treasures." Lao Tzu
"You are you average of the five people you spend the most time with." Jim Rohn
"Don't take life to seriously. You will never get out of it alive." Elbert Hubbard
