From Bank to Bush
Thirty-plus years across banks, fintech and platform businesses in Australia and Europe. Turnarounds, growth roles, interim leadership and ventures — including Credit Savvy, a startup I founded that grew to more than a million users with the backing of Commonwealth Bank.
Then I stepped away, on purpose.
I was curious to see what would happen if I let go of everything I knew. That curiosity became a physical move too. We left the city and headed bush — two hundred acres of ancient bushland in a World Heritage area north of Sydney.
Not long after we moved, the world stopped.
COVID. Lockdowns. Bushfires after years of drought. Then floods.
Everything arrived at once, externally and internally.
Out here there's a lot of space, not much distraction, and no familiar rhythm to hide behind.
At first, I did what any sensible modern person does in the face of stillness: I kept busy. Building, fixing, clearing, repairing. Learning the land — its seasons, its trees, its wildlife. Slowly understanding what had been here long before me.
That worked for a while. It took longer than I'd like to admit, and it wasn't comfortable when it stopped working.
And then, annoyingly, I was left with myself.
What remained had always been there.
The same pattern I'd seen throughout my career became impossible to ignore. The visible problem is rarely the real problem. What gets in the way is usually hidden beneath activity, certainty or habit.
A clearer eye for what's really happening underneath — in people, in teams, in organisations, and often in the leader themselves.
Because you can't see what's in the way from inside it.
DJ