“Success is balancing your life, taking care of your health, mental state, family and business. ”–Reuben Louw Join us as Flying Kite’s Charles Hsuan  interviews growing small- to medium-sized business owners, and find out about their attitudes towards entrepreneurship – their vision and fears, highs and lows. Thaba Eco Hotel within Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve 2019 Pretoria HOMEMAKERS Expo at Time Square South Africa In today’s episode of “How I Built This”, we chat to Reuben Louw CEO of HOMEMAKERS and Thaba Eco Hotel , and creator of Scarlet robe poetry. Reuben turned 50 this year– listen to his advice on how to get the most out of each day and to stay productive. https://soundcloud.com/flying-kiteza/reuben-louw-my-greatest-moment-is-still-to-come At Flying Kite, we help you build your S.T.O.R.Y so you can spread your powerful ideas and make them stick.

Since March 2019, the podcast How I Built This with Flying Kite’s Charles Hsuan , interviews growing small-to-medium-sized business owners to find out about their journeys towards entrepreneurship success. This week, Charles was interviewed by Impact Radio 103’s Toni Rams . Tondi engaged in a number of personal questions with Charles about the origin of his unshakable optimism, why he believes developing personal/business storytelling is vital, Flying Kite’s upcoming Business Storytelling Workshop on 2 September at the Impact Hub Rosebank , and how his walk with God has influenced him along the way. “If you can tell it, you can sell it”– Charles Hsuan Charles Hsuan from Flying Kite in the studio with Impact Radio 103’s Tondi Rams Exceeding your sales is our business, storytelling is our currency. Flying Kite offers internal company workshops on storytelling, as well as public speaking related to the topic. #sellwithyourstory #impactradio #TondiRams

“Gold is the colour of abundance in all areas, and my all-time favourite colour”– Lien Potgieter​ Lien founded The Colour Option in 2010. She began specializing in colour therapy after experiencing her own self-discovery years ago (hint: her life was “colourless” and surrounded by brown). Over the years, Lien has helped more than 3000 people “put a little colour in their life”. She has also specially created a range of online colour therapy courses for people who want to live full, authentic lives – in relationships, business, and creativity. Listen to her journey in the podcast below. https://soundcloud.com/flying-kiteza/how-i-built-this-lien-potgieter-have-you-ever-considered-that-colour-can-help-you-grow Exceeding your sales is our business, storytelling is our currency. Flying Kite offers internal company workshops on storytelling, as well as public speaking related to the topic. #LienPotgieter

“No one owes you a job; you need to manage your career like a business.” – Briony Liber Briony Liber is a well-respected career and leadership coach who started her business in 2017. She is a firm believer that you are your own business, and that in order to grow, you should manage your career like a business. Briony and Charles sharing a joke during the Business Storytelling workshop She also advocates the importance of investing time in getting to know yourself. Briony believes that when you know who you truly are, what you value, and where your boundaries lie, it becomes a lot easier to figure out what’s important to you and where your purpose and meaning come from. If you are struggling with confidence, thinking about changing careers, scared to fail, or unsure of how to articulate your value, then listen to this interview as Briony unpacks her own journey from being scared to start to running workshops with over 100 attendees per session. https://soundcloud.com/flying-kiteza/briony-liber-are-you-the-ceo-of-your-career Exceeding your sales is our business, storytelling is our currency. Flying Kite offers internal company workshops on storytelling, as well as public speaking related to the topic. #BrionyLiber

“I was amazed at how many people were willing to help; don’t be too proud to ask for help.” –Shirley Anderson Almost every day a new startup is born. Every day, some entrepreneur somewhere gets the idea to start something new. But how many of these businesses survive beyond the first 1000 days? Shirley Anderson at a training session From statistics, we know that the first 1000 days are the most challenging for small businesses. Shirley Anderson shares her story of how she made it past this important milestone. A big driving force for Shirley was that she didn’t want to have any regrets or be left wondering: “What if I did try to start my business?” later on in life. Shirly believes that implementation is graduation in entrepreneurship! Listen to the interview below. https://soundcloud.com/flying-kiteza/how-i-built-this-shirley-anderson-my-1000-days-entrepreneur-adventure Exceeding your sales is our business, storytelling is our currency. Flying Kite offers internal company workshops on storytelling, as well as public speaking related to the topic. #1000days #howibuiltthis #ShirleyAnderson

“When I can eliminate limiting self-beliefs in a person and put a structure in place for them to measure growth, make money, and have fun – I get great satisfaction from it! – Brent Spilkin. Brent Spilkin is a full-time business coach, part-time business consultant, and a full-time lover of motorcycles. Brent hosts Business Bikes and Breakfast once a month . Some of the past topics covered included: Defining your business value: How do you translate and live it out in your business. Sales strategy, Social media strategy, and Pricing strategy. Brent Spilkin during a Business, bikes, and breakfast session. When it comes to coaching, every so often, clients prefer to remain anonymous, as they see seeking out a business coach as equating to failure. Yet, oftentimes, these are the client who ends up referring Brent to others! Listen to our interview to find out why Brent believes: “Your business is successful when it serves the owner in the way the owner wants – whether it’s to build a bigger team, leave a legacy, gain more exposure in the media, make more profit, or even to play more golf.” https://soundcloud.com/flying-kiteza/how-i-built-this-brent-spilkin-your-business-is-successful-when-it-serves-the-owner-you Exceeding your sales is our business, storytelling is our currency. Flying Kite offers internal company workshops on storytelling, as well as public speaking related to the topic. #BBBRAP #BrentSpilkin #Businessbikesbreakfast #howibuiltthis

“I knew it in my core that this is what I was called to do, so I needed to see the fight through and battle through uncertainties. In the early days (2003-2005), we battled to get our licence renewed, now we have a permanent licence!” – Peter Roebert Impact radio broadcasting on 103FM Peter Roebert  co-founded Impact Radio 103fm   (a Christian radio station ) back in 1995, and his first passion is broadcasting. His second passion is being a commercial pilot. Peter sees similarities between running a business and flying – both need extended planning, preparation, and system and process checks. They both, importantly, also need to be correctly licenced. Peter believes that Impact Radio 103fm exists to grow people – so much so that the station sometimes takes on people with no experience and trains them. He feels very fulfilled when these inexperienced beginners move on to their stage careers because of the training they’ve received. Peter considers it the ultimate success when the station’s trainees can play a role in impacting the community. Listen to this uplifting interview below: https://soundcloud.com/flying-kiteza/how-i-built-this-peter-roebert-success-is-doing-what-youve-been-called-to-do-and-doing-it-well Exceeding your sales is our business, storytelling is our currency. Flying Kite offers internal company workshops on storytelling, as well as public speaking related to the topic. #Faith #howibuiltthis #impactradio

“In over 20 countries, I’ve helped leaders make the best decisions they can by clearing the clutter in their heads and achieving their best performances” – Ragil Ratnam It’s often very difficult for very senior leaders to confide in someone within their organisation who isn’t biased or who hasn’t got an agenda. It’s useful, then, for someone who is outside the organisation and who holds a neutral stance to help leaders reflect and come to their own conclusions. Ragil Ratnam is a clinical psychologist based out of Bangkok, Thailand, who specialises in Leadership Development Coaching. He is a faculty member of the Behavioral Coaching Institute’s (BCI) Graduate School of Master Coaches. Are you ready to unclutter your mind in 2020 with Ragil? Listen to the interview below. https://soundcloud.com/flying-kiteza/how-i-built-this-ragil-ratnam-how-to-clear-your-mental-clutter-to-boost-performance Exceeding your sales is our business, storytelling is our currency. Flying Kite offers internal company workshops on storytelling, as well as public speaking related to the topic. #howibuiltthis #leadershipcoaching #RagilRatnam

“When the executives have an ‘ah-ha’ moment during the training session, that makes me more passionate; I love helping companies raise awareness.” – Ross Saunders If you think your company is too small, or that you have the latest firewall, and you’re safe from hackers (Or from being breached ), think again. It just takes a second for you to put in the wrong detail in a phishing message for a catastrophic event to occur. An investigation into IT-related crimes are extremely expensive, and the mitigation of further/future crimes can cost a company up to tends of thousands of Rands per day. Ross specialises in data protection and information security. His company focusses on raising awareness and educating staff as to the human aspect of what can, and does, go wrong in data protection. Ross has a particular, and personal, passion for data privacy, having been a victim of identity theft himself. Listen to our interview below. https://soundcloud.com/flying-kiteza/how-i-built-your-business-is-never-too-small-for-a-cyber-attack-with-ross-saunders Exceeding your sales is our business, storytelling is our currency. Flying Kite offers internal company workshops on storytelling, as well as public speaking related to the topic. #cyberattack #howibuiltthis #Rosssaunders

When people ask ‘ what do you do ?’, is your answer the usual business jargon-filled ‘yawner’, or do people lean in and say ‘ WOW, tell me more ?’ – Charles Hsuan  Charles Hsuan sits down with Tondi Rams of Impact Radio to discuss the release of his eBook Refuse to be Boring – Boring does NOT sell. The foreword by well-respected business content writer Nadine Todd sums the book up perfectly:  Each day, in every way, we’re selling our ideas – we’re pitching a solution, a business, an investment opportunity, whatever it is – and the way we capture attention is to be succinctly and genuinely engaging. I believe everyone needs to learn how to tell their story – and Refuse to be Boring – Boring does NOT Sell is the perfect place to start. Click here for the full interview. #Aguidetostorytellingforbusinessownersandsalesprofessionals #sellwithyourstory #ebookonStorytelling #impactradio #refusetobeboring

Over 3000 years ago, in the Valley of Elah, a place that’s’ about 35 km away from Jerusalem, one of history’s most famous battles took place. The story of David vs Goliath. The story we’re familiar with is about a shepherd boy vs a great warrior – an underdog who defeated a giant. Or is it? Exceeding your sales is our business, storytelling is our currency. Flying Kite offers internal company workshops on storytelling, as well as public speaking related to the topic. #davidvsgoliath

Over the past weekend, I had my bachelor’s party at Adventure Zone Cullinan with some of my closest friends. We split into two teams and competed in the Zone’s Amazing Race. The race comprised 10 activities, with each activity requiring our teams to solve and complete a “clue” before moving on to the next. One of the activities was Ancient Bushman Fire-making. While we were completing the task, I noticed six similarities between this activity and running a business. 1. Seek wise counsel Our guide, Piet, has done this activity countless times and knows what it takes to be successful. Piet already knew what to do, we chose to learn from him. 2. Listen and pay attention We were given dry grass, sand, a plant with holes, and a mini bow to work with. We first needed to listen to how each item plays a part in the fire-making before rushing in to complete the task. 3. Be prepared for hard work and have patience After trying to make the fire at least five times, my teammate, Jared, seemed to finally catch on to the technique. We gathered around him to offer support 4. Practice teamwork As sweat dripped from his head, we cheered him on. We supplied him with whatever he needed to complete the process. 5. Ask questions When the smoke started to appear, we continued to engage with our guide for further instructions. 6. Have a positive attitude Like anything in life, there is nothing that a huge smile and a positive attitude can’t solve! And one last thing – remember to celebrate your win. We were all overjoyed when we completed the task! Exceeding your sales is our business, storytelling is our currency. Flying Kite offers internal company workshops on storytelling, as well as public speaking related to the topic. #Survive