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.
The land is quiet.
The land is patient.
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.
But eventually the land stops letting you stay occupied.
I slowed down.
I started listening.
And then, annoyingly, I was left with myself.
When the distractions can no longer distract, you're left with what's actually there.
The stillness didn't give me a new identity. It stripped away noise.
What remained had always been there.
And the same pattern I'd seen throughout my career became impossible to ignore. The visible problem is rarely the real problem.
In organisations, as in life, what gets in the way is often hidden beneath activity, assumptions, certainty, fear, control, avoidance or habit.
Push harder and you often miss it completely.
Step back. Look differently. It becomes hard to ignore.
What the stillness gave me was a clearer eye. For what's really happening underneath — in people, in teams, in organisations, and often in the leader themselves.
That's what I bring to my clients.
An outsider's perspective. Clear eyes. Honest conversations.
Because you can't see what's in the way from inside it.
DJ