Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff with Jeremy Birt | Ep. 7

Overview

My guest on this week’s episode of The True North Show is Jeremy Birt who has left the Corporate “9 to 5” and stepped onto his own path, drawing on decades of experience as a senior executive in business to guide, mentor and coach others so they can uncover their zone of genius.  Jeremy has a unique gift in seeing in others what they can’t see in themselves and gives practical advice on how to use their genius to stand out and grow, both personally and professionally.  I really enjoyed our conversation, there is so much rich advice that Jeremy offers on this episode that you won’t want to miss it.

Jeremy Birt is an experienced executive coach, business mentor, and leadership strategist who brings over two decades of senior leadership experience to his coaching practice.

As the founder of The Strategy Factory, Jeremy works with ambitious executives and boards to unlock leadership potential, sharpen strategic focus, and accelerate career and business outcomes.

He’s held CEO and COO roles across sectors including agribusiness, retail, digital, media, and utilities, leading complex transformations, scaling businesses, and building high-performing teams.  That hands-on executive experience, combined with a deep coaching capability, gives Jeremy a rare edge: he understands what it’s like to sit in the big chair and how to navigate the pressure, complexity, and opportunity that comes with it.

Jeremy holds an MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD).  He also holds a Level 2 Postgraduate Certificate in Applied Coaching, credentialed at ICF PCC level.  His coaching is grounded in practical insight, commercial acumen, and a genuine commitment to helping leaders grow.

Whether guiding CEOs through career inflection points or mentoring emerging leaders with untapped potential, Jeremy is known for his strategic clarity, grounded approach, and ability to bring out the best in those he works with.

Social Media:

• Website:          https://www.thestrategyfactory.com.au
• LinkedIn:         https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremybirt/

Transcript:

Megan North (00:00)
Hello and welcome to The True North Show, a show where we dive into the pivotal moments that ignite our guests’ passions, uncover the stories behind their purpose, and reveal the real life strategies they use to stay balanced and prioritize mental wellbeing. Get ready for inspiring conversations that light the way to living with intention, resilience, while following your true north. I’m your host, Megan North, and I would like to thank our sponsors of the show, Quantum Awakening,

Beth Lewis and Anne C. Clark. Now today, I am joined by Jeremy Birt, an experienced executive coach, business mentor and leadership strategist who brings over two decades of senior leadership experience to his coaching practice. As the founder of The Strategy Factory, Jeremy works with ambitious executives and boards to unlock leadership potential, sharpen strategic focus,

and accelerate career and business outcomes. He’s held CEO and COO roles across sectors, including agribusiness, retail, digital, media, and utilities, leading complex transformations, scaling businesses, and building high performing teams. That hands-on executive experience combined with a deep coaching capability gives Jeremy a rare edge.

He understands what it’s like to sit in the big chair and how to navigate the pressure, complexity and opportunity that comes with it. Jeremy holds an MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He also holds a Level 2 postgraduate certificate in applied coaching, credentialed at ICF’s PCC levels.

For those in Australia, you’ll probably understand that. For those in America, you may not. His coaching is grounded in practical insight, commercial acumen, and a genuine commitment to helping leaders grow. Whether guiding CEOs through career inflection points or mentoring emerging leaders with untapped potential, Jeremy is known for his strategic clarity, grounded approach, and ability to bring out the best in those he works with.

Welcome to the show, Jeremy. I’m really excited about our conversation today.

Jeremy Birt (02:30)
Thank you. It’s great to be here. great to be here. Lots of letters in that. Sorry, lots of actions in that bio.

Megan North (02:37)
But I think it’s really interesting to, ⁓ you know, just to go through that because I think your experience really does define you as an expert in the work that you’re doing. So, ⁓ you know, I think it’s funny, isn’t it, in that corporate space as well is that people do like to see letters and they do like to see qualifications.

Jeremy Birt (02:59)
Yeah, yeah, look, I think, you know, I think that’s true, but I think the magic really lies in the mix of both.

Megan North (03:05)
Absolutely. Yeah. absolutely. All right. So let’s dive in. So we are the True North Show. So what I would love to understand is what was the defining moment that led you to pursue your true passion and purpose?

Jeremy Birt (03:22)
Um, for me, it was really, um, having achieved what I wanted to achieve in a corporate setting. So I’d sort of set this lofty goal of becoming a CEO and decided, you know, that’s what I wanted to do. And in some, some ways I sort of reflect on that and think, maybe that was a little bit of a lazy goal, you know, because you think, oh, just I’ll set CEO and I’ll never get there. and then you just sort of run along. Um, but then I did get there and then I actually then thought, look, what’s next? You know, do you want to just keep doing it?

And it, it, do something else. And so then it provided me bit of a gap, a bit of latitude, bit of clear air to then to really sort of take a deliberate, um, review of what I wanted to do. Um, you know, and I, and I basically, know, it took a while to get to, I have to say, and then, and then, um, I looked at all the good bits that I’d enjoyed doing over my corporate career and then, you know, and then thought, well, is there a way that I can meld all those bits together?

and create something that I’m really passionate about for the next phase for me and the next chapter for me. that was a big inflection point, but the good thing is I had some time.

Megan North (04:36)
And so the strategy factory, this is a new endeavor for you, isn’t it? Like this is like a new venture for you.

Jeremy Birt (04:43)
Yeah. So I’ve done consulting on and off through my career and I’ve worked in private equity firms. Yeah. Where I’ve typically been, you know, the operations guys sort of parachuted in, hit the ground running, put a team together quickly. ⁓ and, ⁓ you know, work out what the strategy is, ⁓ either for the whole business or, ⁓ more typically for the, for the operational side of the business. so I can look, how are we going to achieve the goals and what’s the strategy to do that? So I’ve always enjoyed the strategic part of It’s certainly my.

studies at the MBA were focused on strategy. ⁓ But the new part for me now is really bolting on that ⁓ additional study and, you know, additional specialization of executive coaching, mentoring. So I’ve mentored people through my career, which has been great, but there’s a clear distinction, you know, certainly in my mind, and if you talk to the ICF in their minds too, around, you know, the difference between coaching and mentoring. And I say, I think it’s, I’ve found it

good to have some structure in the conversations and in the direction of the conversation, but also have some business experience to be able to say, you know, in my, this is what, if my time over again, this is what I wouldn’t do. But as long as you’re clear. So, yeah. So for me, that’s that, you know, that’s kind of an important thing. So, so, yeah. So to answer your question, I started the strategy factory in September last year.

I’ve been growing the footprint basically of doing that. I’ve been doing some podcasting and talking to some fascinating people and, you know, and then, you know, picking up some really interesting conversations and catching opportunities, mainly at this point with individuals. So it’s been, it’s been great. I’ve really enjoyed it so far. Great. But a very fulfilling journey for me so far.

Megan North (06:28)
And did you, when like September last year, were you at a real fork in the road of do I continue on down that real corporate space or do I make a decision? Was it a courageous decision to actually go a different direction and do what you wanted to do?

Jeremy Birt (06:44)
yeah, look, I’d love to say it was really brave decision and I had all this sort of fortitude to do it. ⁓ I think, ⁓ in hindsight, I probably underestimated the complexity of doing, I don’t know why, but, ⁓ and that’s probably a good thing. So that sort of naivety kind of helps you to sort of jump in and say, like, you know, let’s see what happens here. I, I, I found me to be Frank.

jump from COO to CEO, I didn’t find that that easy, you know, to, to, to land that those, you know, that CEO role. And then, you know, I can see not that I’ll try very hard, but I can see others who’ve come out of CEO roles and are trying to, get into the next CEO role. It’s not that easy. You know, you’ve got to be in the right place at the right time. There has to be an opportunity. Generally you need the right level of experience. ⁓ and it’s very competitive.

So there’s a number of things, you know, it’s not that easy to get the next CEO role. Plenty of people do do it, you know, and hats off to them. But ⁓ I really sort of struggled with being sort of super passionate about that at that time. And, you know, again, I’m very kind of people centric. ⁓ And so I think if I have my time over again, I’d either be a psychologist ⁓ or a lawyer.

I so. Yeah, but you know, I started my career in sales and I think that that’s on reflection says a bit about as well, you know, getting to know people, getting to know your client, really understanding it. You know, I was very into a consultative selling approach. And so to me, actually starting the strategy factory is kind of not surprising then if you look at it in that context.

Megan North (08:32)
Yeah, absolutely. And I think too, you know, when you get to those roles of COO,

So for those who don’t know, but we are talking very corporate here, but chief operating officer and then a CEO is obviously a chief executive officer. But when you get into those really big roles, I also think too that you almost lose touch with the people because you’re not really, it can be quite lonely in those big roles because you’re kind of at the top of the tree and you’re more strategic, you’re more how’s the business going, whereas…

If you are a people person, it’s interesting that you said if you had your time over, you might have been a psychologist. I think that that that true people connection comes back to you because I suspect you’re probably really missing that one-on-one interaction with people and actually just how are you going and what’s going on and how can I help you one-on-one?

Jeremy Birt (09:25)
For sure. For sure. And so I really, I used to have meetings with my skip level meetings, so my direct reports, direct reports, just to try and stay a little bit closer to the frontline, if I can put it that way. And ⁓ I really enjoyed spending time with the guys at the frontline, either in packing and distribution or actually in sales and marketing and what have you. ⁓

So it’s difficult though, you know, that CEO role, does pull you because you can’t spend all of your time there because there’s other things that you need to do, you know, to keep the board happy, et cetera, and do all of that, you know, manage what you’re supposed to be doing as well. So you’re right. you know, it can be a little bit, ⁓ you know, a singular endeavor, you know, like being a CEO. ⁓ So yeah. And even COO, I think, you know, my advice would be not to lose contact with the people.

You can’t do it all yourself. know, you need people to follow you and to do that, you need to be authentic and you need, people need to trust you and they need to know you, you know, that’s the thing, or feel like they know you at least.

Megan North (10:28)
Yeah, absolutely. That you’re a human and that you’re… Yeah.

Jeremy Birt (10:32)
Yeah, I’ll tell you, sorry. I’ll tell you like an interesting story. heard a bit of a ⁓ bit of a piece, but I heard about like they there was an article that I listened to and they were saying why Taylor Swift was so ⁓ popular and why her fans were so rusted on and so loyal. it’s because they said they thought it was because ⁓ she gave everybody that followed her the impression.

that she was talking directly to them. And so they felt that ownership and that human connection. So I mean, I’m not taking away about her talent ⁓ in singing and entertainment, but on top of that, she’s overlaid that, that sort of magic where people feel they belong as a Swiftie and what have you. So I think it transcends lots of different types of scenarios.

Megan North (11:22)
Absolutely, absolutely. And so you mentioned just before that, you stepped into this endeavor of ⁓ what you’re doing now and maybe a bit blindly and you’ve had some challenges. So can you share ⁓ maybe a couple of challenges that you’ve faced through that process and how you overcame it to just make sure that you’re aligned with where you’re going?

Jeremy Birt (11:50)
Yeah, yeah, for sure. So I think the good thing about doing your own thing is you can do anything, you know, within reason. so, so for the first period, a few days, few weeks, you’re like, yeah, I can do anything I want, you know, and then you sort of slow down and there’s sort of euphoria dies a little bit. It’s okay. what are you going to do? think, Yeah. And then, you talk to people, you know, that you, that you trust and, know, your trusted advisors, et cetera, ⁓ and start to put that together.

But I mean, certainly like the conversations that we’ve had and around if you’re going to go, okay, where is your true north? What is it that you want to do? What are you trying to achieve? And I think working out the strategy to get there is kind of more formulaic, potentially easier to do. ⁓ But actually, you’re being deliberate about what it is you want to do. I think that that can be quite tough because I think if you want to be successful,

and make progress in anything that you’re doing. If you keep changing direction all the time, think then that just slows you up. It’s take you longer to get there practically. And it can be frustrating personally, I think. I think that can be difficult for people. I think I was aware of that. I just spent a long time, even, you you sort of think, what are you going to call a business? I can call it anything, you know.

And then what are you trying to do? What are you trying to achieve? You know, and then it’s got to resonate with that and then what’s available and then, know, so, um, yeah. And it, it’s, we’ll probably talk about it later, but from a wellbeing perspective, I think you need to manage that really closely, you know, because I actually registered the business name on Christmas Eve, watching TV. It’s available. Great. You know, and actually got it, you know, why are you doing this Christmas Eve? What, know, like you should be not doing.

That’s exactly the day you shouldn’t be doing that. again, think lessons for me is you’ve to watch that bit.

Megan North (13:52)
Absolutely, absolutely. And I also think too that there, ⁓ I think that there’s gotta be some level of flexibility in what you think you’re gonna do as well. Because we do have the, mean, some people I believe go, this is what I’m gonna do, this is what the business is gonna be. And they’re just so dogged at it and they go for it. But then I think sometimes,

you know, when you start to talk to people and you’re like, okay, this is what I’ve got in my head and this is what I’m going to offer. I think talking to people and being a little bit flexible, I think is important because what you think people need may not be what they’re telling you they need. And so I think, you know, from a coaching perspective, particularly, I think there needs to be that time that you can go, okay, I thought I was going to go in this direction, but actually I might need to just pivot a little bit to be able to meet.

where my clients are at.

Jeremy Birt (14:49)
Yeah, that’s right. That’s right. I’m not sure whether it was Bill Gates, someone far intelligent than me said there was a quote around people overestimating what they can do in the long term, but underestimating what they can do in the short term. think that’s, sorry, overestimated what they can do in the short term and underestimating what they can do in the long term. That’s kind of quite interesting really, because if you’re trying to set your North Star,

Megan North (15:05)
okay.

Jeremy Birt (15:18)
Are you applying this bias, know, or this heuristic that you have and you can go, or just set it a little bit lower than it could be. And then you kind of march along and, and of course you achieve all of your goals, but you’re kind of not achieving what you could have done if you’d have thought about it a little bit more in more depth, maybe put it that way.

Megan North (15:38)
Yeah, absolutely. And I also think too that when you’re following your true north, I think it’s really important to have that right inner circle around you as well. I talk about sometimes that when people are just out there saying, this is what I’m going to do and I’m going to do these 50 things and then people are going, well, how are you going with it? Then you start to feel if you haven’t achieved it. I’m always saying just keep your inner circle quiet.

and just talk to the people that you really trust their input ⁓ and also their challenges as well. I had ⁓ a lady that ⁓ I do some coaching work with at the beginning of last year. And I was for the first couple of years in my business known as like I was the overwhelmed coach. So I was helping women who are overwhelmed to help them overcome the overwhelm. And when I told her that she’s and I said to her, it’s just, it’s not jelly.

It’s not gelling. And she said, Megan, you’re telling you’re you’re trying to sell overwhelm to women who are overwhelmed and they don’t want to buy overwhelm because they’re overwhelmed.

Jeremy Birt (16:47)
I already got that bit!

Megan North (16:49)
I thought it was genius. It was exactly what I thought I was. I was like, ⁓ my goodness, you’re right. I was overwhelming them. And I really thought, my goodness, sharing that with her and getting that true honest feedback was very instrumental because then I actually changed everything, then went into the whole, actually I’m following my purpose.

Jeremy Birt (17:00)
Yeah, right.

Megan North (17:19)
My surname is North, how can I use that more? And everything shifted in my business after that.

Jeremy Birt (17:25)
Yeah, I think that what you’ve done there also, but you’ve backed yourself. And I have found that whilst you go and canvas people’s opinion, you can tell the same story or express the same dilemma, articulate the same dilemma. And you get different answers from people that you kind of love and trust, but they’re not always right. Well-intentioned, but not always on the money. ⁓

an experience where I was talking to somebody about the podcast that I’d started up. And then I said, Oh, you know, built this website and I’ve done the podcast and I’ve got this and I’ve got that and I’ve done all that, you know, and all this sort of stuff that I’ve never really done before. And, uh, this person who I’ve known for years, 20 odd years, he said, you know, goodness, know, you’re really operating outside your comfort zone here, you know? I thought, okay, it’s a bit limiting, you know what I said? It didn’t mean it that way, but I just thought, Oh yeah, you know, maybe I’m taking a risk here, you know?

Anyway, so I just happened to tell the same, you know, have a similar conversation with somebody else who was a coach, not in a coaching context, but I was just chatting to her really smart lady. And she said, it’s so great. know, you’re spending so much time expanding your comfort zone. And I just thought, ⁓ I love that, you know, and I’m just going to do more of that. know, so, so I think that that’s really, for me, that was an interesting story, right? Because, you know, there’s two people that I really write.

have viewed it the other way. And so, you know, what does that mean? That means, you know, the first conversation was on a Thursday, second one was on the Friday. So Saturday, I’m sitting there with a cup of tea and go, am I really out of my comfort zone here? Or am I working to improve myself? What’s the answer? And then so I had to make a decision. And the answer was I’m expanding my comfort zone. That was my decision at the time. And I’ve, you know, I’ve not regretted that. So that’s been, it’s been good, but sometimes the advice can, you know, not

always be 100 % all right, you know? Yeah.

Megan North (19:22)
Yeah, but you know, I also think though that those moments are golden nuggets for you because you then view the conversations with you that you have with those two people differently because the person that thought that you were, ⁓ you know, really limiting and had the opposite thought that you did, you you kind of go, hmm, okay, well, maybe when I’m talking to them, I might get different advice or I’ll just…

not downplay, but just kind of say, yeah, you know, I’m plugging along and I’m doing things. Whereas the other person that’s really expansive, you’ll probably say, hey, I’m thinking about this. What are your thoughts? It’s really interesting that we then get these different views of people that I do sometimes change my conversations with people, depending on I know how their response is going to be. Because I don’t want the limited response. I want the expanded response.

Jeremy Birt (20:18)
Yeah, yeah, exactly. And things like, I think things like names, and you’ll probably have found this, you know, can be quite polarizing. So, you know, I’ve spoken to people about the strategy factory name. And ⁓ some people are like, you know, it’s not really a factory, it? You what’s mechanical about it? And you kind of like, it’s not supposed to be a factory, you know, it’s a metaphor. Right. And then I met somebody, I met somebody two days ago, and I gave him my card and he took the card like that.

And he was like a career consultant, right? And somebody that I look at and go, wow, you know, he’s like had 20 or 30 years of top level, top notch consultant as he experienced. I was just like, that’s a real, like he’s a real, you know, big timer from a consultant perspective. And he had my card and he was just tapping like that. he goes, what a great name. I love that. You know, you can’t pick it, you know? And I said, well, it’s too late now because I’ve the money on the card. So it’s not, I’m not changing it. It’s on my website, not changing it, but you know, it’s, it’s.

I think you do need to back yourself in this game. I’m going to go with it. Not everybody’s going to like it, right?

Megan North (21:22)
Yeah. And I think that that’s why that inner circle is really important because you then aren’t telling a hundred thousand people all of your ideas and getting a hundred thousand different responses. If your inner circle is small, when you talk to them, you know, if you’ve only got to, I’ve only got really a couple of people that I talk to about things that I’ve got planned because I really value their feedback. But also then if something doesn’t work, I’ve got an authentic relationship where I can say to them,

that was a that bombed or, ⁓ I’m not feeling it now. I don’t feel like I’m having to tell 100,000 people the same thing of why something didn’t work, you know.

Jeremy Birt (21:55)
You told me before.

Exactly.

Megan North (22:05)
It’s an interesting process, isn’t it? And so do you even in so we’re talking like September last year, so you’ve you’ve been operating for nine months. Do you think even through that short period that your path has evolved like even in nine months? Like, do you think things have evolved? You’ve evolved in.

Jeremy Birt (22:28)
Yeah, I think I have. Very much so. think I’ve gone from, you know, I’ve always been strategically orientated, but you know, those operational type roles that I’ve done in the past do drag you into the transactional, which is fine. And it’s necessary, you know, ⁓ but now it’s really ⁓ enabled me to sort of focus on on personal development as well as developing others, but really sort of digging into, you know, the

It’s not psychology, but into that ⁓ positive psychology, which I’m a keen follower ⁓ of. I’ve studied, I started the course with the Australian Institute, sorry, Australian College of Applied Professions and did a grad cert, as you heard, as you announced before, ⁓ in applied coaching. But that’s really…

not only built confidence, but built capability to be able to talk to people in a more structured way and really get the best out of their conversations for them, which is something that I needed to work on. You know, and people go just, you know, out of corporate straight into coaching and they do that. You know, I felt I wanted to spend a bit more time developing myself before, before doing that, which was good. So I did the accelerated course, but I feel I’ve grown from that and my outlook.

has very much grown. know, so I meet people now. I’m not selling, I don’t sell people coaching. You know, if they, if they want a conversation, then, then, you know, happy to have a conversation if I think I’m going to add value. And if I don’t think we’re going to add value, then, you know, then we have a candid conversation around that. You know, look, I’m happy to help, but is this what you’re really looking for? You know, so, and I mean, I’m sure, you know, you’d have had many conversations like that as well. You know, so sometimes you’ve got the right service, but it’s kind of at the wrong time.

Yeah. So, you know, and I, so for me, the strategy factory is very much about building relationships. It’s about improving myself, but improving those that I work with. But I’m playing the long game. It’s, you know, I’m not, I’m not, you know, pushing anybody into, you know, and then there’s a 50 % discount today. If you sign up and, know, give me your email address. It’s like, doesn’t, you know, it fits many brands, but it’s really, it’s not, that’s not what the strategy factory is about.

Megan North (24:45)
Yeah, yeah. And yeah, I think that that whole, particularly from the coaching point of view, that whole know, like and trust, I think is really important. I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone come to me that I’ve never ever known and just say, I need to work with you. I’ve usually met them. been referred to me.

or they’ve watched me, they’ve said, oh, I’ve been following you and I’d really love to work with you. That know, like and trust, I think is really important. Yeah, absolutely. And so from you, from a personal point of view, like you said, from a professional development point of view, is there one thing that you think like reflecting on even just the last nine months that you think, wow, I’ve really grown in that space?

Jeremy Birt (25:17)
I think that’s right.

Well, it’s given me the chance actually to do a lot of volunteer work, pro bono work. So I’ve been ⁓ doing youth mentoring with the Rays Foundation here in Australia. I’ve done mentoring of university ⁓ students who are just in their final year of uni trying to get into the workforce. And so they’re starting to position in that and they’re interested in that corporate side of things.

⁓ you know, and I’ve done some mentoring, ⁓ you know, again, with the uni, but in a school’s context. you know, mentoring kids who are, finishing their schooling, HSC, and then looking, you know, trying to figure out what they need from a university. Are they going to go into medicine? Are they going to go into business? I sit under the business faculty flag. ⁓ but again, you know, that’s, that’s been interesting. And I just never would have had the time to do that. ⁓ but.

Even then, I find there’s real applicability to what I’m learning there. Without having those conversations, you’d never learn it. ⁓ Imagine this, sitting, I’ll sit at the scene, I’m in a hall with a few other mentors sitting under a flag with the UNSW faculty, business faculty. So 18 schools come in and the kids will sit down. It’s over a nine week period.

and the two schools will come in and their kids will sit down and they’ll chat to you and they’ll ask you, know, I mean, they can talk to whoever they want to. ⁓ they tend to come in groups, so they’re in groups of two or three will come in, then I’ll sit down. ⁓ And so the top question I got was, and I didn’t, I wasn’t that surprised about the top question. The top question was, if I go into business, how much money will I make? Anything? All right. Fair enough. You know, the answer to that is like, here’s a salary survey.

depends what you want to do, have a read, you know, over to you kind of thing. But the second most popular question or most common question that I got over the nine weeks was, if I go into business, what would my work life balance be? These are 16 year olds, right? And I just sat there and I just thought, you know what, if at 16, if somebody had said, hey, you know, JB, what do you, what’s your view on work life balance? I would have just sat there and I don’t even know what that is.

But what does that mean for us all as we go forward? It means that the generations, you know, who are coming up through the workforce and in society in general are starting to prioritize wellbeing. They’re starting to prioritize mental health over lots of other things, which I speak to myself, I didn’t do when I was that age, right? You know, and so, you know, and I think, you know, in business, there’s a lot of applicability and you kind of, you got to take notice of that. So, you know, if you’re going to be a CEO that’s going to sit there and go, right.

all you guys are coming back to the office and you’re going to work and if I call you, you pick up the phone within three rings. I’m not sure if you’re really going to get a lot of traction with the guys that I’m talking to. I’m not going to want that job. But then even I think broader than just the corporate, know in the corporate it’s a small part of life. But people are starting to prioritize themselves and I think rightly so, which is good. so, back to your question, I’ve learned a lot from

the opportunities that I’ve had not to be kind of just sort of, know, on that sort of corporate merry-go-round and actually take some time and spend some time with people that I wouldn’t normally do, you know, so that’s been really fascinating and a lot of learning there. it’s been really.

Megan North (28:53)
love that. And that’s the beauty, isn’t it, of owning your own business. You can manage your own diary, your own time, you can choose who you want to work with, can choose who you don’t want to work with. It’s all of that, that in corporate, you’ve got no choice, really. It’s kind of like, oh, this is the guy that I’m sitting next to and I’ve got to work with him.

Jeremy Birt (29:14)
That’s

right. That’s right. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think my problem back to well-being, I think my problem has been, you know, if I reflect on the last few months, it’s like, just say yes to everything. So I’ll look at the diary and go, you can have to start saying no to some stuff and prioritise, you know, so yeah.

Megan North (29:30)
So I would love to explore the mental health aspect of you ⁓ now working for yourself, prioritizing all of those sort of things. So how are you maintaining your balance and prioritizing your mental wellbeing while you’re pursuing your dreams? What things are you doing to make sure that that’s being looked after?

Jeremy Birt (29:55)
⁓ I focus a lot on things that I enjoy doing. You know, sounds simple, but not everybody gets a chance to do that. And I haven’t had the chance, ⁓ you know, freedom to be able to do that in the past, a little bit like we talked about before. So, you know, I actually think, am I enjoying this? Is this fun? You know, and I do ask myself those questions sometimes, you know, it’s necessary and you kind of just persist and you just do stuff. But I do try and.

and just to say, look, is this something that I really want to do? that starts, think I’ve also done some work in actually identifying what it is that stimulates me and motivates me. so, apart from sort of having fun. So I found now I do a lot more reading than I’ve done in past. And that’s like a self-development thing. Not just business books, I do read business books, but you know, and coaching books. And so,

⁓ but it’s just cause I’m interested in it. It’s not really cause I’m, you I’m looking for the next sort of, you know, silver bullet and coaching or whatever it is. It’s just cause I’m actually genuinely interested in it. And so I, I enjoy that and then just reflecting on what I’ve read. I think, other than that, I do try and switch off on the weekend. ⁓ I try not to do things on the weekend and, ⁓ I do try and finish the day.

If I try, I’m not very successful, but I do try and finish the day at five. So, you know, sometimes that’s just not a happening thing. Particularly, you know, I did do a lot of networking and what have you, so that’s, but, you know, that’s, kind of like what I try and do. And then at least three times a week, I’ve got, I’ve learned I need to do some exercise. So I’ll do, I’ll go cycling and that’s, you know, that’s what I do. I’ve only recently got into it.

a good motivator I’ve found is buy an expensive push bike and then leave it somewhere visible and you just kind look at it go, I should get on that. I know, but there’s actually a lot of time. used to swim and I’ve heard other swimmers, you kind of go, how boring is this? You just go up and down and just look at the black line all the way. But it’s actually about reflection time and it’s about improving. You’re kind of trying to better your personal best and whatever. But a lot of it’s about reflection time.

and putting that together. So I think that that is important. And then the other thing I do try and do is spend time as a family. Our kids are a little bit older now, but my wife works very hard in a business that she’s running. And it’s very easy, even if you’re working in the same building, I find ⁓ not to spend any time with each other. So I think that that’s important to actually spend time ⁓ doing fun stuff as well. So last week we walked around an art gallery two weeks ago.

Which is great, you know, we go to dinner and just do like, you know, can’t say I’m particularly arty, but she is and it’s great to spend time.

Megan North (32:57)
Yeah, nice, nice. And is there anything, because I know you and I have talked about this before from a woo woo point of view, you know, this is all very new to you. Is there anything like that? Do you ever do any meditations or do you have you ever journaled or anything like that?

Jeremy Birt (33:14)
No, I don’t do meditations that are formula do a lot of reflection. I know that there’s a difference, but I’m sort of, I feel like I’m embarking on the on a journey that you’re already on, you know, so, so there’s a bit, a bit of that. But yeah, so more, I would say more reflection from from but, you know, there’s still room for that for me. You know, I’m sorry, I don’t have a closed mind. I think what what I’ve learned

And what I’ve really enjoyed is actually having an open mind to lots of new things and lots of different things. you know, ⁓ and again, being married to somebody who is in that space, you know, like, ⁓ yeah, some of the stuff I’ll just look at and go, really, is this going to make a difference? know, stuff around the house burning stuff and whatever. Yeah. Yeah. She’s always done it and then keeps this. Yeah. So like.

She’s a very smart woman, so there’s got to be like, I’m obviously missing something here, right? So sort of like, I’ve made a note and then to go back to that and learn a bit more about that.

Megan North (34:20)
⁓ I love that. think that open mindedness helps you, know, from definitely from a mental wellbeing point of view, but also from a business perspective, because those little side conversations that you have with people or somebody might make a comment or talk about something, think you need to have that open mindedness because we, I think it’s very difficult when you’re working for yourself to be able to be across everything that’s happening.

in business and in the world. And so I think having an open mind and listening and taking on board what people suggest, I think is a great aspect to have.

Jeremy Birt (34:59)
Hmm. I think, don’t know whether you found this, ⁓ but I think when I, again, on reflecting, when I started my career, when I was in sales or whatever, when I was younger, you know, you couldn’t tell me anything. I knew everything, right? You know, and then as I’ve gone on with my career, you know, sometimes you think, well, as people get older, you know, they sort of get set in their ways and they get, you know, they’re very difficult to change or what have you. But I haven’t really, I don’t think I’ve found that. And I think I’ve actually been kind of humbled by.

You know, I sort of think back and go, oh my gosh, I said that, you know, was the worst answer. Why did you do that? You know? And so, and when I was, for example, when I was a COO, was COO in various different companies for about eight years before I got a CEO gig. And I thought, how’s this? Anyone can do it. You know, I got this and sort of sitting on the sideline, you know, on that, you know, on the other side of the fence. And then when I got that job, I was like, whoa, okay. Okay. Now I get it. And so then I realized how much I thought I knew even then.

you know, that I didn’t actually know. So now I’m thinking, well, if that was the case, how much do I think I know now that I really don’t know? So actually it’s becoming more more apparent to me that I know less and less. So you actually, I think you need an open mind to be able to actually, there’s just no time, you know, that’s not, you know, you’ve got to actually really try and pick the good stuff that’s going to improve you.

Megan North (36:18)
Definitely, definitely. And I would suspect it was one of the things that I was a bit like you, know, like I’d coached and mentored people in my career for over 20 years. But when I actually sort of stepped out into my own business, I did go and get a qualification of coaching more because of what you had said previously, I needed a bit of structure. Like, you know, because when you’re in business, you’re kind of coaching mentoring, but in a more less structured sort of a more informal kind of way. Whereas actually then when

people are paying you for your time to get a certain result. I think that structure is very important. But one of the things that ⁓ I really loved when I went through that process was more like when I talk to my clients, we don’t set goals, we experiment. Because the word goal for me, if you don’t reach it means usually psychologically you feel like you’ve failed. Whereas if I’m getting my clients to experiment with an idea that they’ve got.

They love it because they go, that didn’t work, but I tried this and this was really good. And so I think there is a question here, but from you learning sort of formally of how to coach people, do you find then that that open mindedness has also come in that you’re really working side by side with the client as opposed to trying to impart your knowledge and tell them what they need?

Jeremy Birt (37:41)
sure. For sure. Yeah. I mean, I think that that, you know, in the coaching sessions that I’ve observed, yeah, and you can watch videos and, know, on how to do it and how not to do it and what have you. It’s like the biggest turnoff when, you know, people, you know, sort of say, well, you know, what do want to achieve from this session? And they say, I want to achieve A, B and C. And you go, well, I’ll tell you what you should really be focusing on. I’ll just sort of sit back and go, you okay. You know, and, and so I think,

you really need to listen and be driven by, you know, the coachee. it’s about, it’s all about the coach. It’s not about the coach. So, I’m quite careful around, or very careful around just say, you know, I might think that I know what the answer is, but the coachee needs to tell me what they think the answer is. Cause you know, what if I’m wrong?

You know, and so, and they’re the experts in themselves and in their lives. can’t hope to understand them as well as they understand themselves. You know, so having said that, if they say, well, look, you’ve done this before, what would you do? Or then I think when that’s okay, and then you kind of go, okay, I’m taking the coaching hat off and I’m putting the mentor hat on. And I’ll say, look, I’ve had a similar experience. This is what I did. And this is what was good about it. And that’s not so good about it. So I’m still not telling them what to do. You know, but.

I think it’s you’ve got to be quite strict, I think, around, you know, telling people what to do. Otherwise, it’s just a course, right? You’re just going to go, here you go. Just here’s my video. Watch that and we’ll do a quiz at the end.

Megan North (39:16)
Yeah,

exactly. Yeah, because yeah, I love that. It’s like click. Yeah, one of the interesting things when I did my formal qualification and it really stuck with me. One thing that one of my mentors in the qualification said to me was you should never ever tell your client that you’re proud of them. I was like,

really? Why? And they said, because it doesn’t matter. It’s not about how you feel about them. It’s about them. And I, I’ve actually removed that from in the sense of I do tell my clients when I’m really proud of them, because, know, when they’ve achieved something really big in their in their life, I often say, my gosh, I’m so proud of how far you’ve come. And get we do it from a reflective point of view. But

I just thought it was the weirdest advice that I ever got. thought, so, you know, could you imagine being the blank client going, yep, you know, I’ve done all of this. Hmm, great. Yeah. Hmm. Yeah.

Jeremy Birt (40:23)
That’s right. That’s right. But the ICF, you know, the International Coaching Federation do say, you know, in their, in their markers that, that, ⁓ and in their codes that, and guidance that you should be actually, ⁓ encouraging, ⁓ you know, progress and actually acknowledging, you know, the wins and the effort that, that people, that your coaches have made. ⁓ doesn’t sound like that’s a line, but I think the other thing I have learned is, you know, it’s,

Megan North (40:48)
such an odd

Jeremy Birt (40:53)
Coaching is very, very personal and tailored to the individual, but also not only the coachee, but the coach gets to dictate and figure out what their style is. know, I’m trying to stay aligned with the ICF and that’s what I like to do. But within that, there’s still plenty of latitude to be able to inject your personal style into that that resonates with the people that you’re coaching, I think.

Megan North (41:21)
Yeah, because not everybody, you know, you could be coaching five people on the same thing, but each person needs something a little bit different. Yeah. Yeah.

Jeremy Birt (41:29)
And

some people, some people feel like really uncomfortable if you go, you know, did such a good job of people like, And other people are like, yeah, yeah, that’s good. Keep it coming. love it. You know, just pump my tires up a bit more. it’s not everybody’s bag. So I think, again, it depends on how, know, your coach is wired.

Megan North (41:45)
Yeah, exactly, exactly. So if you were sitting across from someone and they were asking your advice ⁓ about starting to explore their true purpose and passion, what advice would you give them? What are maybe two things that you would share with them?

Jeremy Birt (42:03)
Um, I think, well, I mean, can tell you what I did. Um, and that would be, um, really sit down and, and, know, deliberately reflect on what you find enjoying and stimulating, you know, what gives you, you know, intrinsic reward. So not just money, you know, what’s something where you actually do it and think, wow, that’s amazing. So for me, an example of that was, and you must’ve been in this situation, you when you coach someone and they’re

they’re talking and they might talk for 10 minutes or what have you. And then they just go, and he goes, girl, something happened there. The light bulb went on and they go, I got it. Yeah. And then, and then this, and then that I’m going to do this. And then, you know, and they’ve made a connection in their head. You know, they’re about to tell you about it. And you just go, that is just priceless. Yeah. That part. And so, you know, I actually kind of do it for that, not to say

everyone has to have that epiphany in every session, but it is actually helping people, you know, really figure out what’s important to them. And so for me, that was really, that was important to me, you know, so I sort of figured that out. So I would say, I would say figure out, but be, and then the other thing would be be deliberate. So, so I’m very much, it’s personally around having a go, you know, and backing yourself and,

you know, doing things on purpose. And so the way I kind of justify that is if I make a decision or I do something that wasn’t right, like, you know, I thought, oh, let’s buy this. And it turned out to be a dud or let’s do, whatever. I look back on that and then just say, okay, well, look, that was not the right thing to buy or, know, in this context. But having said that with the information that I had at the time,

that was the best decision to make. And actually, if you’d asked me today to make that decision, I’d still make the same decision because that’s the only information I had. So don’t beat yourself up about it. I don’t know whether that fits into two.

Megan North (44:14)
Yeah, I think that that’s really good. Like not being so hard on yourself too, you know, it brings back to that what we talked about before having that little bit of flexibility of, okay, well I tried this, but actually that didn’t work. That’s okay. You know.

Jeremy Birt (44:27)
What else can I try? For sure. I think it’s what you kind of alluded to before, we’re kind of experimenting, you know, and if you kind of recognize it for that and say, okay, well, look, I’m going to try this and if it doesn’t work, okay. You know, so you sort of hope for the best plan for the worst and just keep rolling.

Megan North (44:42)
Yeah, yeah. I think the other thing for me that I see with people who have just started out as well is the whole networking, getting out there, joining groups, doing lots of online courses and doing all of that. But then they’re actually not actually working on the business itself. So they kind of get shiny thing in the sense of, I’ve got to go out there and I’ve got to promote myself and I’ve got to do all these courses.

But then it’s like, what are you actually doing? Like, you sent a newsletter? Have you, you know, have you started to build a newsletter list? Have you done some social media posts? you done this? And, or have you contacted some people and they’re like, no. And so I could, okay, well you’ve got to, feel like there’s also that balance of working on the business, in the business and out of the business as well.

Jeremy Birt (45:32)
Yeah, yeah. I mean, I love the networking thing. think, you know, culturally, networking in Australia is different to networking in America, whereas I think the Americans kind of get on with it and do it more quickly than the Australians. So they’re a little bit more, you know, get to get to the point. You know, I go to quite a lot of networking events and I see and everyone’s like, they sort of hate it, you know, and it’s just kind of go like everyone.

Everyone here is like that, right? So, you know, it’s like, if you feel nervous and bad, well, you know, whatever, little bit lacking in confidence. Well, you know, there’s like 10 other people in the room who are the same, you know? So I think, you know, just to sort of bear that in mind, I think is also, but I think the point you make, yeah, for sure. Figuring out whether to work in the business or on the business and getting that balance right. Cause at some point you do need to work in the business as well, right? Yeah.

Megan North (46:24)
Absolutely.

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly. Amazing. I love this. There’s so many, I knew that there’d be lots of golden gems of advice coming from you through this conversation. So I really, really do love it. So surprisingly, we do only have a few minutes left. And so I told you this time does go quickly. does, it really flies.

And so I’ll ask you the same question that I ask all of my guests before we finish our conversation. So what is one lesson or truth that you’ve learned on your journey that you wish you had known earlier?

Jeremy Birt (47:08)
Well, there’s, there’s many. I’ll just choose, I’ll choose one and see how we’re going for time. But my, my kind of most important one actually has been don’t sweat the small stuff. So, you know, I think, so, ⁓ I, I, you know, I was a bit of a perfectionist before, I just had to get everything exactly right before building enough confidence to take that step. Yeah. And, and it’s,

you kind of go, so now I’m a bit of an 80-20 kind of merchant. And I don’t mean I’m sort of half doing stuff. I know that’s 50-50. But there comes a balance where you actually just need to actually start to build some momentum. And if you surround yourself with people who are supporters and you show some vulnerability and say, hey, I’m trying this, people will go with you. And they come along with the journey.

I think if you’ve got that authenticity and you’ve got a can do, get it done kind of attitude, that helps. And I think if I’d had that a little bit earlier in my career, I probably would have made more progress. Noting that I’m actually now not measuring progress by money and titles. I’m talking about progress in terms of personal development, self-development, capability, and well-being.

Megan North (48:32)
Hmm. And I love that. That is really perfect to finish this conversation in that because I think, you know, again, it comes back to working in and on the business in the sense of if you if you’re doing a website or you’re doing some social media, don’t overthink it because the social media stats now they say that you’ve got less than two seconds to grab someone’s attention. So if you spend hours agonizing over what you’re going to put on social media,

Like at the end of the day, I’m really sorry, but no one cares. You know what I mean? Like it, because if you’ve got less than two seconds, just put stuff out there. If you’re there regularly enough, ⁓ we’re going to start watching your stuff, but really don’t overthink it and sweat that small stuff because it will actually block you and stop you from moving forward.

Jeremy Birt (49:21)
Yeah, I think that’s exactly right. It’s exactly right. And there’s no reason for it. There’s no need for it because people get behind you and, you know, and they do support you, which is the wonderful thing about the human race is, know, they do get behind you, which is great.

Megan North (49:37)
Absolutely. And again, that’s where it comes back to that, you know, picking the right people in your inner circle as well, because they’re going to challenge you when you need the challenge, but they’re also going to be there supporting you as well. ⁓ And not having a go at you if you haven’t taken their advice, but still supporting you when you didn’t take their advice and it didn’t work. And they’re not going to tell you, I told you so. They’re just going to support you.

Jeremy Birt (49:59)
Yeah, that’s right. That’s right. I I thought I was going to get I did a couple of podcasts and I thought I was going to get heckled, you know, in the comments or whatever. But what I didn’t realize is actually I was interviewing people who I know well and they were heckling me on the podcast. I’m like, you’re the guest. You’re supposed to be having a go at me. So yeah, you never can pick it. But it was it’s been a lot of fun. really

Megan North (50:21)
Yeah, good. Yeah, yeah, I love that. Thank you. It’s a really nice way to end the conversation. ⁓ So thank you for sharing all of your wisdom and experience. know, it’s people like you who inspire others to take the leap and follow their true north. So I really appreciate you being really open and candid about, you know, what you’ve struggled with and what has challenged you. So thank you for that.

I’d also like to thank all of our amazing and dedicated audience, our supporters, our sponsors in particular, and I hope that you will have an amazing rest of the week and I look forward to seeing you all next week. And thank you again, Jeremy.

Jeremy Birt (50:59)
Great to talk to you. Thanks for having me on. Thank you. Cheers.