Let’s Grow together
Welcome to my Blog.
2026
Resilience in Business: Why the Strongest Leaders Don’t Just Push Through
When people talk about resilience in business, it’s often framed as toughness.
Work harder. Push through. Stay strong.
But in my experience working with franchisees and business owners, resilience looks very different.
It’s not about absorbing more pressure. It’s about building systems, habits, and environments that allow you and your team to perform consistently over the long term.
Running a business today is complex. Between team management, financial pressure, customer expectations, and operational demands, many owners are carrying far more than they let on.
And here’s the challenge: when leaders are stretched, the entire organisation feels it.
What I’ve found is that resilient businesses tend to focus on three key areas.
First, clarity.
When people know what matters most and what success looks like, decision-making becomes easier and stress levels drop.
Second, communication.
Teams that feel heard perform better. Creating an environment where people can share ideas, concerns, and feedback openly strengthens both trust and performance.
Third, structure.
Resilient businesses design systems that reduce friction. Clear processes, defined roles, and regular team check-ins prevent small problems from becoming big ones.
Interestingly, some of the most effective changes I’ve seen in businesses are surprisingly simple.
Something as small as asking better questions, listening more closely to customers, or creating a short team reflection after a busy week can dramatically improve culture and performance.
Resilience isn’t about pushing harder.
It’s about building a business that can sustain momentum without burning people out.
I recently explored this topic further in a feature article published in MiVision, where I discuss how resilience shows up inside professional environments and how leaders can build stronger teams around it.
Read the full article here: https://mivision.com.au/2026/03/workplace-resilience-in-modern-optometry/
2024
Focus on one thing only, they say.
My mind wants to work on different things simultaneously, and that's led to 7 spinning plates. Being creative is fun, exciting and never boring. On the downside, it can lead to unfinished projects and can lead to becoming demotivated. I've certainly been there.
Fortunately there is a system thats helped me keep on track, one which holds me accountable. Its called coaching.
Alongside that, there are programs that have been put together by people who have been through the journey. It's this incredible formula of 1:1 and following a recipe that elevates your game and keeps you progressing.
If you own a franchise or JV, additional self development is a choice, it takes time and money but it's totally worth it.
2024
✅We are the sum of our thoughts and actions and when it comes to business, knowledge without execution is just information.
If that business is not earning you profit, it's not a business, it's a hobby.
✅One year on from now if you were to look back, you should be able to piece together the exact route, pathway, 'coincidences', that happened that got you to where you are.
P.s There are no coincidences.
✅I was asked to speak to this at Toastmasters International and I'd like to throw it to you for consideration:
"What's the difference between Living and Existing?"
Life offers us choice. To use knowledge we've gained and to act on it at the RIGHT time could mean the difference between living the life you desire vs the life you fell in to.
Live your life by design.
2024
Everyone needs a Mentor or a Coach.
The best way to innovate internally or externally is by listening to someone who has been where you're wanting to go.
Our internal dialogue is one of the biggest reasons for not living the life we want. While we all have limiting beliefs it's up to us whether we break through those or let them hold us back.
Here with @aaronsansoni learning the ways of a leadership mindset, and how to look at opportunities differently.
#dealmastery #aaronsansoni #richardbranson #mentor #coach
2024
Some individuals have a wealth of knowledge, and today I had the privilege to spend a few hours with two super experienced operators.
Here are some takeaways I wanted to share from today:
✅If you are being genuine, everyone present can tell. Emotions, thoughts and feelings translate as energy.
✅Working together, forming partnerships, and exploring new options all help you expand your influence and impact.
✅Valuable strategies can be learned from different industries and applied to your own.
✅To truly understand an industry or business, it's important to learn from experienced operators.
✅The quality of your interactions depends on the quality of the questions you ask, but more importantly how well you LISTEN.
✅Choosing to be hospitable can greatly improve relationships in the long run.
Thank you Sineth Sareth Sar and Thierry B for a truly engaging afternoon.
#art
#artgallery
#melbourneart
#melbournebusiness
#ThierryBfineart
#Australianart
#contemporaryart
#business
South East’s site for sore eyes
featured in Dandenong Star Journal
A surge of primary-school-aged students and Afghanistan evacuees are being treated for eye difficulties, according to a Dandenong optometrist.
Dee Makadia, the optometry director at Dandenong Plaza Specsavers, says remote learning has led to more children 7 years and older needing glasses.
Students were spending extra hours of staring at a near-distance into tablet and phone screens, which was leading to more cases of myopia or short-sightedness.
Reading in dim light – such as from weak bedside lamps – was another deleterious factor.
Mr Makadia recommends for every 20 minutes’ screen time to rest the eyes on a faraway object for 20 seconds.And to consciously increase your blink rate to stop focusing so earnestly at the screen.
“You should be blinking once every three seconds. Every day, our eyelids travel 300 metres while blinking – that’s the height of the Eureka Skydeck.”
Also regular breaks, like a 15-minute walk, can do wonders for the eyes.
“You’ve got to embrace these basic things so as to not cause problems long-term.”
In recent months, Mr Makadia has also been seeing some of the 1000-plus evacuees from Afghanistan who have settled in Greater Dandenong and Casey. Many have issues relating to diabetes or cataracts that would be easily removed under the Australian public health system. Some evacuees have simply been supplied with the wrong glasses, or not been aware they could improve their impaired vision.
“In other words, they accepted losing their eyesight as part of growing old.”
Mr Makadia says he’s also heard extraordinary stories such as from an evacuated translator who’d worked for the Australian Government in Afghanistan.
“His supervisor comes in and says you’ve got to go right now. He picks up his mother and things from home, and goes straight to the airport.”
The mother’s eyes were however in a “bad way”. So impaired by cataracts that she couldn’t read the largest letter on the eye chart.
“She was just wearing glasses for reading. It’s something that could have been dealt with a long time ago.”
https://dandenong.starcommunity.com.au/news/2022-02-24/sth-easts-site-for-sore-eyes/
Missing Check-ups could be costly oversight
featured in Sunday Herald
Delaying healthcare could be costing victorians in more ways than one, especially when it comes to eyesight. New Medicare data shows there were more than 250,000 fewer claims for optometrists from March to May this year. This includes more than 40,000 Victorians over the age of 65 who missed out on their annual eye test. A further 29,999 missed a follow up appointment to check a progressive eye disorder, compared to figures from 209.
At Specsavers alone 150,000 Victorians have delayed or cancelled getting their eyes tested since mid-May, including many who would have needed urgent referral. Dr Deepesh (Dr Dee) Makadia director of Optometry at Dandenong Specsavers, said it was important people didn’t delay getting help when needed. Mwelbourne student Fiona ROma, 21, had an uncofortable feelingin her eyes for weeks at the start of the forst LOCKDOWN in May, but brushed off the symptoms. “I just thoughtI’ll leave it for a few days.. two months later I was still waking up with the headaches,” she said.
Eventually Ms Roma booked for an eye check. “I went and saw an optometrist and he said both of the disks behind my eye were swollen”, she said. “They sent me straight to the emergency. “
Ms Roma’s visit revealed she had idiopathic intrastatic hypertension - or pressure on the brain, which would have worsened if not picked up.
to add to this story, within two weeks of seeing Ms Roma, I had a further 3 patients with the same condition who all needed urgent referral for idiopathic intracranial hypertension.