In property, you need a great team of professionals around you. I call them your A-team. And one of the most important members of my A-team is a great quantity surveyor. They keep a keen eye on your project finances by creating tax depreciation schedules and replacement cost estimations for insurance purposes. As number crunchers, quantity surveyor…

Ian Ugarte is joined by architect Rebecca Caldwell of Maytree Studios, who is designing the kind of world she wants to live in. Her design philosophy combines ethics and social responsibility with the forward-thinking sensibilities of contemporary architecture. Originally from New Zealand, she aesthetically leans towards the rich, textured and rugg…

This episode of Small Talk Big Ideas takes a diversion from our usual hot topic - 'property investing', and into a realm that I find fascinating and personally transformative. Herbalist, healer, and plant medicine advocate, Rachel Gagen, looks to nature and the body to help her clients reach self-acceptance and balance in their lives. I hope you en…

Top of the list of things that can cause a property investor to come unstuck is finance. Avoiding getting stopped in your tracks and being unable to grow your investment portfolio is about getting prepared. And it helps to have a 'creative' mortgage broker who understands your investment journey. This week I'm joined by residential finance expert P…

Rebecca Simon has been a business owner and entrepreneur for over 17 years, but only a few short years ago she and her husband moved into the online space and retired themselves in 5 months. They are now helping to change lives globally with a team expanding fast across 50 countries. They now live the life of their dreams living life by design from…

This episode of Small Talk Big Ideas podcast is with my Mum and Dad, Rosalie and Julian Ugarte, and as with all parents their influence in my life has been an incredible experience. It’s only in recent years that I have realised how the connection between us had to be increased, and that the simple words “I love you” are easy to say. Listen in on t…

What does a fitness studio have to do with a podcast for property people? Well, fitness (and fitness businesses in particular) require a certain mindset. It’s one of dogged determination, and a drive to succeed. But success doesn’t come without balance. It’s why I’ve always advocated that to be successful in anything (property, business, and more) …

If you’ve done a property deal or two, you’ll know that your profit margin can be made or whittled away in the contract negotiation. My guest this week, is a master real estate negotiator, with a unique combination of professional and personal real estate success that make him an enviable resource in contract negotiations. Scott Aggett has been a v…

It’s not very often that on a Facebook post, I get the outstanding support from the public. Glenys who knew nothing about us, in her practicality commented on how co-living was a fix to the housing affordability problem. Within the Facebook thread she made sense. She spoke her truth and was on the same page as me. More housing can be produced out o…

This is a podcast I encourage you to listen to, because this amazing couple are paving their own courageous path. Bianca Brown and Joel Keefer joined me as students wanting to learn about how to invest in property and get high returns from their investments. Since joining my HI-RES program, we’ve become best mates! We have shared a massive marathon…

There are many sports people that become after-dinner speakers and tell entertaining stories about their life as a sports person. What sets Billy Moore apart, is that his success in the sporting arena has been transferred into the business world. He’s an entertaining and thoughtful larrikin full of contrasts, with the depth of a serious message and…

On today’s Small Talk, Big Ideas podcast, we have the great Terry Ryder, a property analyst who has been doing amazing work in the industry since the early ’80s. The story of how he started in property is fascinating with an interesting point of vulnerability in the middle of this podcast. I urge you to stay on listen to the end, enjoy ‘Small Talk,…

I’m excited to be chatting in this episode of Small Talk Big Ideas to someone who has truly embraced change in their life and works daily to help others do the same! We’ve all had that moment where we look around and wonder how the hell we got here, knowing we haven’t exactly carved out the life we wanted but we’ve ended up with what we have! Tony …

She’s the former salon owner who became a social media superstar and the founder of two programs designed for women entrepreneurs, but Keezia Leigh is so much more than that.. Funny, irreverent, and a self-proclaimed ‘self-expression activist,’ she’s motivating others to embrace their skills along with their quirks to take the world by storm. I tho…

My guest this week is a personal inspiration and one of the amazing professionals contributing to the success of Small Is The New Big and my personal brand. Bec Derrington is a serial entrepreneur, PR Queen, and influencer marketing guru. She’s taught me so much about how to share my message about the need for more affordable housing in Australia. …

One of the many things I have in common with my guest this week, Rob Flux, is a strong and real desire to use his decades of property knowledge to help people get ahead. And that’s because like me, Rob didn’t come from extraordinary means. In fact, his journey to becoming a professional property developer started from very small beginnings and the …

Of all of the conversations I’ve had on Small Talk Big Ideas, this is one of the most powerful. David Morrison like many of us, struggled to balance his work and family life, and ultimately started to question the 9 to 5 work model. He drew a direct line between the search for happiness and abandoning traditional husband, father, provider roles tha…

The best people I know have had more than one career. But few have been as successful as my next guest. Join me this week as I chat with former Dancing With The Stars star, professional dancer, and choreographer, Mark Hodge, about how he pivoted to property and became a short stay expert. A lifetime of wear and tear on his body, plus a hit and run …

My chat with property expert and educator Jane Slack-Smith is as fascinating as it is inspiring. Jane’s meagre beginnings growing up on the family farm and a career as a mining engineer gave her the drive to become one of Australia’s most successful property experts. She was the first Australian female mining engineer to work underground, an early …

I couldn’t be more excited to be officially launching my brand new podcast, ‘Small Talk, Big Ideas’. Launching this podcast has been a dream of mine for some time, and I always knew the first person on my list of ‘big thinkers’ that I wanted to chat with was my mentor and great buddy, Steve McKnight. He has helped me with his business insight and p…

What makes a great leader? It’s a question that I’ve been trying to get to the heart of for years as I built several businesses (27 in as many years in fact!). That’s why my chat this week with brand guru Glen Campbell was so fascinating. Glen realised long ago that leadership is borne of authenticity, and has made it his driving passion to help le…

Journalist and radio host, Matt Collins, was at all too familiar cross roads 4 years ago. At 37, he was was (in his eyes at least) at a low point of his life. With no partner, a hand-me-down car, and a career not where he thought it would be, he had an epiphany and realised he could do anything he wanted! That’s how his wildly popular podcast Coffe…

Property Entrepreneur, Keith Grisman, had by the age of 33, pulled off what most property people dream of. Retired, with a property portfolio of 50+ properties, the former cop come commercial agent and developer who had started investing at the age of 17, was riding high, and enjoying his passion for surfing. The GFC came, and his security and worl…

Nutritionist, author, and filmmaker Cyndi O’Meara is on a one-woman crusade to reveal the food industry’s deep dark secrets. In our chat, she explains how growing up without medicine, drugs, or doctors paved the path for her to overcome her most significant hurdle, chronic pain. That journey became the inspiration to create the documentary, ‘What T…