"Things were good, but they were a bit foggy. They weren't deliberate. Now I have a lot more clarity about what I'm doing, where I'm going, and what I actually want to achieve. It breaks the back of the mental thinking, so you don't have to. A lot of the fogginess is gone. I know what I'm doing, why I'm doing it, how to get there, and I've got some freedom back in my life. If you're feeling stuck and trapped by your business and thinking about joining Consilium — you can probably do everything you want to do. You have the resource, you have the time, you have the energy, you have the ability, but what you probably don't have is the time. This is what shortcuts it. You're exchanging — taking on some extra knowledge to save a bucket load of time. Maybe you get there in five or ten years, you probably want to get there in one."

"Life was chaotic, in a word. More opportunity than I could poke a stick at, running around 100 miles an hour like a headless chook. I was really just caught in the founder's dilemma — all the skills and attributes that helped build the business to a certain point were the same skills and attributes that were starting to kill us. It was a busy, busy period. What's different now — my time is more valuable. I've got a lot more clarity around the value of time. We had an analogy of an investment banker and the way they would trade money as a commodity, and it really just made me realise that time is the commodity that we're trading. In the same way an investment banker wouldn't invest their money in something that wouldn't give a return, I'm not going to invest my time in things that aren't giving me a return. Any business owner goes through a lot of challenges, it's unavoidable. But the more you reach out to people that understand, that have been there before, you can get help. There is always a better way. You're not meant to have all the answers, but it's good if you know where to look and you've got good people around you — which Ben and Consilium has certainly been for me."

"I was a busy business owner, lots to do, trying to build a big business. I was always away from family. I was very stressed, very burnt out. I imagined this business was going to give me the freedom that I wanted, but actually, the bigger the business got, the less freedom I had. I definitely didn't have the marriage that I wanted. We still loved each other, but I just knew that there was more. Since I joined Consilium, what I have gained from it is having the moment to pause and really have a look at things from a point of clarity and strategy. I was always just a gut feel type of guy — execution is my skill, but it's also my downfall. Consilium had me really looking at a different way of thinking about business, which has led into my life as well — better relationships, better time spent."

"Before Consilium, it was a very stressful time in life — undue stress. I thought it was normal, working 12, 14 hours a day, trying to look after kids, start a business, look after the household, financial stresses. I thought it was very normal to just live in that level of stress and anxiety, to the point that I was starting to break down. There was a lot of drinking, cigarettes, late nights — they were the only coping mechanisms that I had. Different now — no drinking, no smoking, very, very different. What I had learned is that I'm not the only person to go through that. Everyone goes through these trials and tribulations of life, and it's normal, but there are better ways to do things. You only have this one life, it is about enjoyment. The way of thinking changed completely, and I can tell you, you won't find me stressed very often. I have the same stresses, but I am not stressed, and I have a very happy, healthy life. No smoking, no drinking, running marathons, running ultra marathons, eating well, sleeping well. I've got a great family life, work-life balance now. Life is fantastic."