Welcome to the energetic radio podcast. My name is Dale

Sibon. Each week, I'll bring you inspirational guests who

will help you bring fun, energy, and purpose into your

lives. Let the show begin.

Alright, ladies and gentlemen. I tell you what, it has been a long time coming.

And I must admit, the last 10 episodes were not up to standard.

Reason being, we had a little bit of a break. Obviously, we got another podcast

out there at the moment, which was taking up a lot of time. But really

excited to get energetic radio back up and running. It's episode

number 333. And I thought we could not start

it without introducing my guest today, my new business partner.

I'm very excited to have you on here. Paul Campbell, welcome to the show. Thanks

for having me, mate. I'm super excited as well. Was that episode 333?

333 episodes. Jeez. I'm coming at a good time, a few runs on the

board. You are, mate. You are. Put that a

little bit closer to your lips there too, mate. But there we go. So very

excited to be here. Now today is, obviously, with this,

podcast, we're going to really angle it around our new business, the

school of play, and ways that you can use sort of play based research

evidence and activities to build better connections with yourself, but also

your workplace, people you live with, and particularly your friends and family.

Let's paint the picture for the listeners out there. So, obviously,

now, director at a school of play, which is bloody exciting. Not gonna lie.

Before that, mate, do you wanna paint the picture for listeners a little bit about

who Paul Campbell is? Sure, mate.

Father of 2. 2 beautiful beautiful boys, Hunter and Parker. So shout out.

No doubt these guys will give this list and have a bit of a laugh

at the old man. So father of 2, beautiful wife,

girl called Mel. Been together for 20 odd years. She's a ripper.

She keeps the house on running firm. Past educator, worked in the

education space for 21 years. Spent a heap of time working at the

Collingwood Footy Club. Spent about 5 years there working with athletes

and players all around well-being, welfare, development, mindset,

positive psychology, all that kind of work, and just getting them ready to to

play week in week out and, navigate the the life of

this of a professional athlete, I guess. Mate, I

love me sport. Love all types of sports. Still playing footy. Dale thinks I'm a

I'm an idiot for still playing footy the right old age I'm at, but I

won't let listeners know how I am. But, still love my footy

involved with the Parkdale Footy Club out there. So shout out to all the parked

out boys if you're if you're listening to this one. But, yeah, mate, love life.

Love connecting with people. Really do. And your previous

role, so you're an AP of well-being? I was. So I was an assistant

principal at Cranbourne Secondary College. Yep. The AP of well-being and

positive education, which was a role that just brought everything together for me.

You know what I mean? My love of education, my love of working with people,

especially in that well-being front and that positive education and getting the

preventative work in. You know what I mean? Strengthening the thing between our ears and,

and preventing mental health, I guess, from occurring in the first place,

was a huge draw card for me. Huge school, huge

huge enterprise, and I loved my time there. Taught me a lot and it led

me to you, obviously. So It did. And, for listeners out there,

obviously, I've been doing this a long time by myself. And I've

wanted a business partner, but I think it's a unique position,

and I wasn't just going to settle for anything. And

so, I saw Paul in action multiple times when

I did a number of sessions with your staff and students. And the way

you build connections, but more importantly, the way that you can

communicate with everyone, make them feel comfortable, safe,

is an incredible thing. I thought I was pretty good at it, but I see

you do it, man. You operate in a different planet than what I do. Oh,

I've made a pressure. Always, like, come naturally to you?

Good question. With outstanding arrogance, I think it has. I think

it has. I think my whole life I've had a an element of leadership, you

know, from junior sports. You know what I mean? I was always one of the

leaders. My sport team's always loved encouraging and talking to the

playing group, you know, keeping them on track and motivating them to play well.

Right through my, my high school days, my university days, I

always enjoyed getting up and speaking in front of people and

presenting and, you know, unifying a group

and bring a group of people together and motivating them.

So yeah, I guess it has come somewhat natural to me as everything you work

on it, you you develop it and and you tweak it here and there. And

you read and you watch and you learn as much as you possibly can to

develop your, you know, your your

your skills. But yeah, still working on it. I think

you're, I'm an infinite learner. You know what I mean? You've got to be an

infinite learner in this life. And, something I do love to do is I read

for knowledge. You know what I mean? I watch what's going on online and watch

what other people are doing in this space and I'm continuously working on my craft.

Yeah. And you know, still get nervous. Still get nervous. I'm a human

being. I don't think there's anyone out there that doesn't have a little bit of

butterflies in their stomach before they take to a stage or before they address a

whole group of people, whatever it might be. But, I think I've just

learned to harness that, you know, harness that little bit of nervousness and get

excited about it. And there's no better feeling than when you put a bit of

preparation in, you deliver something it's well received. You see

some smiles on people faces, you get to connect with the people in the crowd.

Your messages is needed, and

people love it. And then you walk off and you think that was a job

well done. And it gives you a little bit of a spring your step, I

reckon. So, yeah, that's cool. It definitely does. And I

say this all the time when I'm speaking as well that I'm I'm anxious.

Like, I am nervous. Yeah. And that's every speech. So, yeah, it might get a

little bit easier, but you still have that those butterflies and things like that.

Yeah. Do you find because you're very good at it, and I've

seen in action that when you say things like that, people go, that's easy for

you to say, or, oh, it comes naturally to you. You don't know what it's

like for others? All the time. Yeah. All the time. And I get a lot.

I you don't because I often I'm honest. I'm always honest. I like to be

an honest bloke and always tell people, you know, I I I get nervous. You

know what I mean? I do. And they always laugh at it and go, surely

not. You don't come across as being nervous and they think it comes naturally and

they think it comes easy. But I think I enjoy letting people know that I'm

a human being too, and that it's okay for them to feel nervous

about it and they can get out of the comfort zone as well. I think

it's really powerful when you give people permission to feel that

little bit of anxiety, little bit of nervousness, and, hey, give it a crack. You

know what I mean? Yeah. And that's the thing. You only overcome things

by doing it. 100%. And I know yeah. You

obviously leaving teaching was a big decision,

and very excited to have you on board, mate. How has the first few

weeks been? Obviously, now it is a lot different. There's no bell times.

You're leaving the school. You don't have to be somewhere. It is all on your

own watch. How have you found the first 3 3 or 4 3

weeks? It's been brilliant. Yep. For all the reasons you

outlined. But for me, I'm I'm practicing what I've been

preaching for a long time. You know what I mean? Get out of your comfort

zone, follow your dreams, follow your passions, do something for you.

The amount of times I've told people and athletes I've worked with that you get

one shot at life. You get one crack at it. It's

bloody amazing that we're even here. Right? And

you've gotta spend your days doing something that you love and you've gotta follow your

dreams and passions. And education was brilliant. I loved it.

It led me to amazing people and it's developed my knowledge in amazing

ways. But now I think it's led me to a

place where I really wanna be. You know, you yourself

told me when you were getting me on board, I had the opportunity to impact

on, you know, a couple of 1000 kids a year and people a year as

an AP. But in this role, I'm hoping to have the scope to

impact on tens of thousands of people all around Australia, all around the world,

and spread that message of, you know, embrace life,

always put things in perspective, have a positive mindset, have

a bit of optimism, and just spread that. It's

super exciting. You know, I can't wait to get stuck into it. And you're

right. Lastly, you know, that bit about not living my life by a time table

anymore. That's weird. That's weird. It's super

strange. I've, you know, become accustomed to bell times and and having to be

in a certain place 5 days a week. But the

flexibility that I've really enjoyed in the 1st 3 or 4 weeks, has

been amazing. Road tripping with you, has been a fun

part of it so far too. Let me say too, haven't you? We've done a

few. We spent a fair bit of time together. Let me tell her. Lucky we

get along. But yeah. And and the linchpin

that is enabling me to to love it is that little bit extra family

time. You know what I mean? As you know, I've got 2 young kids, youngest

has started primary school. The second one will start next year. So to have the

opportunity to have a bit more family time, school pickups are epic.

You know what I mean? I love them. And then off to the park and

have some play with the kids, something I couldn't do previously. So for me, it's

all those little 1 percenters that add up that, yeah, making

this the right move so far. Isn't it, funny

what really matters, you know, for so long, I think we're so

destined by identified by what we do in our career, and we're

so driven by that. But at the end of the day and I've realized this.

Like, you know, I've spoken about on the other podcast that this time of year,

normally, I'd be that's when I'd go overseas to present because that's I'd

be quieter here, and I thought I needed to do that because that's

impressive and things like that. And the only people I'm letting down are the people

that I live with, the ones that mean everything, my kids and my wife.

But it was so it's a really hard thing to grasp because

we taught so long that you've gotta have a career and you've gotta do all

these things. But, realistically, you've gotta have a career you enjoy, very important.

The first and foremost, do you have a responsibility to the people in your

life? Mhmm. And that must be and I I know we did

a little podcast with, both your boys, and,

it really shone through. They both mentioned it that what are they

both excited about to have you around more? That because you'd leave, you know, you'd

leave at 7 and back at 6. 100%. Everyday. You know, it's 50 hour

weeks. I'd I'd have to get my,

you know, my exercise in and and and things for me before the house woke

up in the mornings. Then get home, shower, breaky, and

basically at the door as the house is waking up and, you know, the wife

who's phenomenal was leading the charge and getting the kids ready for

school and getting herself ready for work, etcetera, etcetera. And then I get home and

the kids are already bathed in their gym jams.

Playtime's already done. They're having a feed and then it's wind down time. You know

what I mean? So, that

melted my heart when the when my boy said that on that podcast they did

with you. It melted my heart, honestly. No doubt. And right in that moment, it

was like, yep. This is definitely a great decision. Yeah. You

know, someone said to me a while ago, you get you get 15 summers with

your kids. Yeah. And that's resonated with me big time.

6 have already gone for Hunter. You know what I mean? And and 15, you

know, 6 have already gone. It's not long. It's not many. Right? And so

you've got whatever you do in life, as you said, make sure you're trying to

find the balance and the time between your career and your family

because that family of yours is gonna grow up so bloody quick. Yeah. And be

out the door before you know it and be too cool for you as a

teenager. And, yeah. So just cherish it as much

as you possibly can and make time for it. And I know it's hard in

some instances and you do your career to support your family and that's super important.

But I think society in the world are getting better at

understanding the importance of balance and organizations understand that and

the hybrid working situation is helping a lot of families out. So,

you know, I mean, if you're out there, you're listening and you can have a

think about that, you know, have a think about your balance and and how that

seesaw is going. And, you know, can you have a chat to your organization about

finding better balance, have a chat with yourself and your wife? I encourage you to

do so because you will never regret that. That's not one thing on your deathbed

you're gonna regret that you've worked to find some more time

for you and found some more time to have some family time. So So true.

So true. I'm always interested hearing

I think we learned so much from, you know, our past life and previous experiences.

Obviously, working at Collingwood is probably arguably the biggest sporting club in the

country. I think they averaged quite over 70,000 per game. You're actually

barrack from as well. Yep. One of those die hard knappies.

What was it like working at such a big organisation like that?

Particularly, previous 10 years ago, you know, the

well-being and mental mental health side of things was sort of taboo or

sort of coming in, but your role was essentially around that well-being element.

What was that like with such a big club behind you? Yep.

Unreal. Like, simply unreal to yeah.

Calling with supporter. When I received the phone call from the club, you had to

come in for a chat, I thought it was a joke at first, to be

honest. Someone's pranking you. Yeah. I thought someone was pranking me.

And just an absolute dream come true. You know, I think to work in any

major sporting organization in that role would be a dream come true. But do it

at the pies, a team that I've grown up supporting and idolizing was

a dream come true. But just the opportunity to impact on their culture for

me was the most fulfilling part of that role. You know, the connections I

made with the athletes, you know, especially working with the women when they

first came in to be professional athletes, the step up was

huge. Right? And they were all juggling full time work study, and and then trying

to be a professional athlete. The rigors were massive. You know, the stresses were huge.

The media were on them. It was all new. And to be able to

guide and support those young

athletes through that time was really fulfilling. And

then we got to make our mark on the club. Right? We got to really

develop a culture within that. Unreal,

mate. Unreal. I loved it. I loved it. Didn't wanna give it up, but family

called another bits and pieces. But it led me to amazing

people. I learned a heap of skills from the club. You know, people like

Nick Maxwell, for example, was was unbelievable that guided me in all

about culture and how to develop that within a sporting organization or even

like a business organization. Yeah. Bloody loved it. It was

unreal. Nice, mate. Now that's, that's always good. Now, I'm always

keen to obviously talk this isn't just gonna be at our business. We're

going to we're gonna talk about things that you can use at home, with your

family, with your friends, your workplace, number of different ways that you can improve your

own well-being. But, the one thing that I'm really excited to

have you on board because, essentially, after a while, you'll be in charge of this,

of running, like, our student based programs. And particularly, the new

one that, we've created this year around student agency and

well-being where we go into schools and we work with the student leaders. We

upskill them and give them a really nice experience as a leadership

team, but then we've got a program that they champion across the school. They

take ownership of it and lead it. So not only is it taking away time

from the staff, but more importantly, it's giving them a voice and the power to

make a really positive change across the schooling environment. We've

just started 2 big studies with Latrobe Uni, at Ocean Grove Primary

School and Fountain Gate Secondary College, and we're really excited about that. But

more importantly, why when I, you know, when I approached

you and said, would you be interested in helping me take this

over, just because I think you've got more skill sets than

what I do in that element. What what really excited

you about that? Because you are really passionate about that student leadership

aspect. Yeah. It's the direction of it. Right? Like

young emerging leaders are the future of our society

and I don't want to get negative at all, but I, I sometimes I freak

out about the direction society is going in. I really do. Obviously working in a

second space for 20 odd years. I've seen the change from 20 years

ago, 10 years ago through to now. I've seen the impact

social media and technology and those things have had on families and

and kids. And sometimes I freak out about the direction that society's going in.

Right? So That's that's okay though. I'm sure that you're not the only one. No.

I wouldn't be the only one. Don't worry. And there's some amazing amazing young people

getting around there, but I know there's also a lot of young people that are

really struggling at the moment. And just the

opportunity to champion, as you said, our young emerging leaders to take

over that sort of well-being space and and drive well-being

initiatives within their school community and then beyond, like

encourage them to get it over the school fence, work with local organizations,

their families, whatever it may be. But just championing young

emerging leaders and giving them the skill set to

drive the future of all being is super,

super exciting. And I think they're the head. That's the hands it needs to be

in. Right? Peer to peer learning is super

powerful. And to be honest, I think it's the most powerful type of learning you

can get. And so if we can champion those young

leaders to be the well-being champions of their school communities, the

world's gonna be in a better place. Yeah. It really will be. It really will

be. And the other thing that I love about that program is leadership

is so beneficial for all parts of your life. Right? And I know I'm a

I'm a product of that as well. I think once you developed your leadership skills

to a point where you can transfer them into

different industries, different organizations, whatever it might be, you start your

sport, it goes into your career life. You bring that leadership into your home amongst

your friends and family. When you develop that skill set,

it really does set you up for a successful life. I'm a huge believer in

that. So for me, it's a bit of a double edged sword. You know, we're

we're working with our student leaders. We're educating them and

empowering them how to take ownership over their own well-being. They go home

and teach that stuff to mum and dad and their brothers and sisters. They hopefully

have a chat to their friends. They're impacting on others. And then

also they're developing their leadership skills at the same time.

Awesome program. And and you know what? In the space of 20 years, I've never

seen anyone do that. I've never seen anyone come in and actually give

the student leaners complete ownership over a portfolio within a

school, especially important and an important portfolio such as

well-being, and let them drive that. And I think

when schools get this on board, when they see the power of

it, I think they're very quickly gonna realize that this

program and this is a great way of doing it. Giving them voice and agency

and leadership is gonna really transform

the feel of their school and the culture of their school. Yeah. So true. And

I think, like you said, there's nothing done like this before.

So, obviously, last year, I was able to work with Latrobe Union,

around the sort of fun shop and the play shop that delivered the 1 hour

session. And nobody's really sort of doing it backed by science in a

in a way that we do it. And they they were fascinated, and they loved

the results. And that's why they said this year, we'd love to have a couple

of researchers, and and do you have anything else? So we've got this idea. And

so when they were researching previous studies and things out there, there's

nothing like it being done. And I think that's why it's been,

I'm gonna say, it's so hard to get off the ground because to get

approval from all the working parties, education

system, more importantly, from ethics approval at Latrobe

Uni for something that's never been done like this before has been crazy. And there's

been so much work gone into it. Yeah. I'm I'm so

excited to see the outcomes, particularly what they'll look

like in a primary school setting where the grade sixes run it for

the rest of school. But then also in a high school setting where student

leaders from year 10 to 7 will then go and lead it with other groups

within the school. I think the scope of it's amazing. And the best thing about

it is like everything, it's not one size fits all. There's so many different options,

and you can use it however you like. So, yeah, we currently

got 7 schools on board, which is really exciting. Exciting. Early days. Early days. Yeah.

It'll grow. It'll grow. It'll grow, which we're really excited about. So, is that something

that you're you're listening and you think, well, I wouldn't mind maybe obviously, this

podcast isn't just a sell. We're we're probably, more of anything, really excited

about what we've created, and we're still tweaking it and figuring it ourselves

because, yeah, as we said, each school we go to each day is different,

and we get different feedback or they use it in a different way, and it's

it's really cool to see. Yeah. It is. I think that's the great thing about

it. So, yeah, if you you're keen on that, let us know and and reach

out. But more importantly, what, what's been your highlight so far? We've

obviously done a number of gigs. We've done a few corporate ones. We've traveled,

interstate. What have, is there any memorable moments so far

from, your first three weeks at the school play?

The road trip up to Sydney was a hoot. Yep. That was great. And, obviously,

working with the great girls school in the Saint George, you know, girls school up

there, elite school. But for me, it was Ballarat Grammar. Oh, yes. You know what

I mean? Like, what what an elite amazing school that was to work

with, just the grounds, the the staff there. But that shooting group,

you know, year 9 is typically a a pretty tough student

cohort to wrangle and manage and and have, you know, working with for a

good hour and a bit and Have 200 of them in a room. 200 of

them. Yeah. And to have 200 of them engaged and listening. And

when you set them the challenge of the task of connecting with each other and

answering those questions, it's just so powerful to hear

those conversations and then the thank you's afterwards. You know what I mean?

Like, the thank you for that opportunity to give us that chance to connect with

my friend. And we never ask each

of those questions. No. You know, they just don't. And and adults don't. You know

what I mean? Adults really ask themselves each of those questions as friends. So,

yeah, that I walked out of there pumped. And then I walked out of there

going, we're making a real difference. And and that was a really cool that didn't

feel like work at all. You know what I mean? Like, pass on that knowledge,

but just guiding. Yeah. That was that was awesome for me.

Yeah. I couldn't agree more. Couldn't agree more. So, looking forward

to a year's time, what do you reckon you'll look back

on and and be really proud of? Obviously, taking

the plunge to leave a secure job and, because I know when I obviously did

it, yeah, it's scary as hell. Like, and it takes a long

time to figure it out and things like that. But what do you reckon, you

know, sitting back here in a used time when we do episode 378

or whatever it's gonna be? I know it's made that up the top of my

head. What do you think you're gonna be most proud of for your 1st 12

months? Yeah. As you said, being

brave, I'll be proud of that. You know, being brave and and

getting in that comfort zone and, you leave a a

very well paid and ongoing role in the department of education with, you

know, good holidays, etcetera, etcetera. Let's let's be honest.

Right? It was what I knew my whole life, and was always

gonna be there. So leaving that and being brave is something I'll definitely look back

and be proud of. I'm also gonna be proud

of of just getting creative. You know, I think we've,

you know, you and I have got a great relationship going on and we work

well off each other and just the opportunity to get creative and create these new

style of programs and continue to evolve along the way. I can't wait to look

back and see the growth of our programs that we've put together initially now, and

then we're gonna keep tweaking them, working on improving them. And I'm really

looking forward looking, you know, down the barrel in 12 months going, yep, that's come

so far. And now look at the product we've created and then seeing the

impact that product has, you know, hopefully on schools across Australia.

Yeah. That's that's gonna be a really exciting time. Yeah. So true.

Well, Cambo, first podcast as well. Didn't mention that

before, mate. Did very well. And some listeners, yeah, they just finished eating his

soup. And, like I do with so many things, I just put a microphone in

his face and said, we're doing a podcast. He's like, what? Mate, there was

no no time. No no questions, no no pre worded

questions, no script. Literally, Sadi just said I'm just

gonna throw some questions at you. So here we go. I think it was the

best way to do it. Oh, okay. You should be good. He did the same

within my first filming stints for the school of play,

socials and and gave me no chance to think about it, which was daunting, but

we made it through. And once again, you know what I mean? Get you out

of your comfort zone. Right? And even this, like, I got a smaller face. Like,

I'm I'm I'm a grown adult and I'm getting out of my

comfort zone. I've been telling people that the whole time. You know what I mean?

So if you're out there listening and there's something you've always wanted to do or

there's something that tweaks your interest and you want to give it a go, just

mate, step into it, give it a go. And, and just

never stop learning. Like having the love of learning super important. You

obviously run a run a pod now called the, you know, energetic what is it?

Energetic radio. Energetic radio. Find that

energy. You know what I mean? Find that energy. Get out there and and we're

we're creatures of habit. So find that energy whether it starts with 5 minutes a

day, but find that energy to get there and do something for you that will

benefit your life because then in turn that impacts on all those around you that

you love and you care about. Oh, that's good. That'd be mic drop opportunity if

it wasn't set up so nicely on a on a stand, you know, if it's

old. Now that is episode number 333, Campbell. Thank

you very much. And for listeners, I do apologize. The last 10 episodes,

I had lost the passion and motivation, and they were not up to standing.

I can say that now. I needed this break, and more importantly,

sorta realign the direction that we're going in, and particularly what we wanna try and

achieve on this podcast. So some weeks will just be Paul and myself chatting like

what we are now, and we'll have other guests on there. But more importantly, it'll

be lots of different ideas that you can either use at work,

school, place, or at home to improve your well-being in a fun

way. Yeah. Because one of the things, there's so many people out

there teaching well-being or telling us what to do, but it it's not

fun. If something's not fun, we're not going to do it. So, yeah. We hope

to, obviously, unlock new ideas and things that you can try. Yeah.

And also connect with some, really cool people because there are so many

people doing wonderful things in this space. So, Paul Campbell,

first podcast, episode 333. Well done, mate. Thank you, Dale Sullivan. Thanks for having me,

and thanks for welcoming you to the school of play. Camel mate to get around

it. Enjoy your day, everyone.