The Inner Game of Change

In 1916, Clarence Saunders asked shoppers to do something that now feels completely normal: pick their own groceries. But self-service did more than change shopping. It shifted work from clerk to customer, redesigned the store around that new behaviour, and changed what happened to the job on the other side of the counter. A story about autonomy, work, design — and how change eventually becomes so normal we stop seeing it. Send us Fan Mail Support the show Ali Juma @The Inner Game of Change podcast Follow me on LinkedIn

What happens when an entire country changes the alphabet its people use to read, write and work? In 1928, Türkiye made the switch quickly. The harder part came afterwards: teaching adults, changing newspapers and workplaces, rebuilding fluency, and helping experienced people become learners again. A story about adoption, identity, redesign...and why the human transition always moves at a different speed. Send us Fan Mail Support the show Ali Juma @The Inner Game of Change podcast Follow me on LinkedIn

Welcome to The Inner Game of Change . where we explore the thinking that shapes how change really happens. Today I am joined by Grace Edwards , a journalist, communication expert and former United Nations professional who has spent much of her career helping people make complex ideas simple, clear and meaningful. Our conversation starts with a deceptively simple question. In an age where artificial intelligence can generate polished communication in seconds, what actually makes communication work? Is it the words? The context? The person delivering them? Or the judgement behind what we choose to say, and what we choose to leave out? Grace and I explore simplicity, journalism, change communication, reading the room, human judgement and what happens when artificial intelligence enters the communication process. And, in a small experiment, we actually invite ChatGPT into the conversation and ask it directly what it cannot bring to the table. But underneath all of this sits a bigger question about the purpose of communication itself. What are we really trying to create when we communicate well? Grace offers a perspective towards the end of our conversation that brings many of these threads together. This is a conversation about saying less, understanding more and why the human element in communication may matter more than ever. I am grateful to have Grace chatting with me today. About I am a communications consultant and public speaking coach with more than a decade of experience. Working with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and others, I turn complex ideas into messages that drive action in speeches, op-Ed’s, interview talking points, press releases, videos, corporate reports and more. I specialize in transforming policy and climate challenges into compelling content that moves decisions and global audiences. My ability to communicate in a clear and compelling way is enhanced by my early experience as a journalist, contributing previously to CNBC, Associated Press (AP), Reuters, BBC News and others. With the surge in LLMs, I have also created my own customised GPT (the Speech Atelier), to help clients to use A.I. responsibly. This is supported by detailed knowledge documents I wrote from my experiences to ensure accuracy, fact-checking, relevance (reads related news), humanised language and storytelling tricks applied from Caesar to Churchill and Obama. I hold a double bachelors degree in Law (LLB) / International Studies (University of Sydney) and am a native English speaker, advanced in Mandarin as well as intermediate Serbian. Grace’s profile linkedin.com/in/grace-brown-4b289828 Website instagram.com (Blog) Send us Fan Mail Support the show Ali Juma @The Inner Game of Change podcast Follow me on LinkedIn

What happens when people believe in a change but still refuse to adopt it? In this episode of Stories of Change , we explore the surprising history of the seat belt—from invention and public resistance to legislation, enforcement and habit—and what it can teach us about behaviour change, AI adoption and the gap between knowing and doing. The invention mattered. The click changed everything. Send us Fan Mail Support the show Ali Juma @The Inner Game of Change podcast Follow me on LinkedIn

Welcome to The Inner Game of Change . where we explore the thinking that shapes how change really happens. What happens to human learning when answers are suddenly abundant and change keeps accelerating? In this episode of The Inner Game of Change , I welcome back Tracy Defoe , Kata coach and adult learning expert, to explore the Coaching Kata and its growing relevance in the age of artificial intelligence. We explore a simple idea: when we cannot know exactly where change will take us, we need to learn our way forward. Tracy shares how the Coaching Kata helps people navigate uncertainty through small experiments, reflection and deliberate learning. We discuss productive struggle, psychological safety, the temptation to jump to solutions, and the importance of human judgement. We also ask whether artificial intelligence is helping us become better thinkers, or simply faster answer seekers, and where it can genuinely strengthen coaching and learning. A conversation about change without certainty, coaching without giving people the answers, and learning our way forward. About Tracy Aims to make you smarter about learning. Adult Education professional specializing in learning at work. Interested in culture change, supporting peer-leadership, informal learning, multiple literacies and communication in diverse settings. Experienced in designing and implementing innovative learning at work programs. Humble Lean Practitioner interested in combining my interests in Lean with Adult Learning and Culture Change. Student of the Kata, Coach and Learner. Improvement and Coaching Kata learner and coach. Volunteer Host of the Cascadia Kata Dojo Community Call - a 30 minute weekly zoom meeting for Kata Coaches From British Columbia, Washington, Oregon and California. Specialties: Customized solutions, embedding lean or essential skills in content training, facilitation of improvements or supporting leaders in improving their facilitation, communicating with the workforce, re-framing change as learning challenge, training design and delivery, implementation and evaluation. Facilitating meetings and retreats for clients, strategic planning, realizing a mission and vision to a Challenge, and a daily improvement plan. Plain Language and Clear Design. Contact Tracy Tracy’s profile linkedin.com/in/tracydefoe Website thelearningfactor.ca (Company) Email td@thelearningfactor.ca Send us Fan Mail Support the show Ali Juma @The Inner Game of Change podcast Follow me on LinkedIn

In 1931, Harry Beck looked at London’s increasingly complicated Underground map and asked a different question. What if passengers did not need a more accurate picture of the city, but a clearer way to move through it? His design distorted geography, simplified distance and was initially rejected. Yet it became one of the most influential maps ever created. In this episode of Stories of Change , I explore what Beck’s story can teach us about simplicity, confidence, human-centred design and helping people navigate change and AI adoption. Send us Fan Mail Support the show Ali Juma @The Inner Game of Change podcast Follow me on LinkedIn

Welcome to The Inner Game of Change . where we explore the thinking that shapes how change really happens. In this warm and deeply human conversation, I speak with change practitioner and Australian Change Days convenor Sarah Glenister about the relationships that quietly shape how change is experienced. We explore trust, uncertainty, informal influence, the limits of plans and timelines, and why the real work of change often happens through conversations that cannot be easily measured. We also consider whether strong relationships can turn uncertainty from anxiety into curiosity, and what human connection may mean as artificial intelligence becomes more embedded in our working lives. I am grateful that Sarah is chatting with me today. About Sarah 🔔 Over 15 years in senior roles - Director of Change Management, Director of Workforce, Director Corporate Services, Area Director Mental Health Services, Director of Financial Transition. Now working as an independent consultant, Founder and Director Change that matters changethatmatters.com.au 🔔 Trained as an Organisational Psychologist, I bring those Behavioural Science skills to address the most complex of situations (and the simple ones), find out more at sarahglenister.com 🔔 Community builder - Convenor and Founder of Australasian Change Days, annual event for people wanting to Change the World! australasianchangedays.com 🔔 Genealogy and DNA geek, offering assistance in interpreting your results and researching your family tree, DM me here. Expertise and knowledge: 💡 Project management and change management of large complex projects 💡 Workforce and HR strategy and organisational development 💡 Team building and communication 💡 Training in Change Management for executive and managers. 💡 Data analysis and interpretation 💡 Facilitation of off-site or on-site strategy days 💡 Building online communities Send us Fan Mail Support the show Ali Juma @The Inner Game of Change podcast Follow me on LinkedIn

What if one of the most important inventions of the last hundred years was a steel box? Not the internet. Not the smartphone. A box. In this episode of Stories of Change , Ali explores how a small experiment in 1956 transformed global trade and what it can teach us about AI, innovation and the hidden side of change. Because sometimes the biggest changes do not arrive looking like revolutions. Sometimes they arrive looking ordinary. And we only understand their significance years later. Send us Fan Mail Support the show Ali Juma @The Inner Game of Change podcast Follow me on LinkedIn

Welcome to The Inner Game of Change . where we explore the thinking that shapes how change really happens. Four years ago, Joan Lurie joined me on this podcast to explore systems, roles, mental maps and how organisations adapt in times of uncertainty. Today, we return to that conversation through a different lens: artificial intelligence. But this is not a conversation about tools, prompts or technology. It is a conversation about what AI is revealing. The assumptions it is challenging. The roles it is reshaping. And what happens when AI enters the systems room. Joan is the founder of Orgonomics and one of Australia's leading systems thinkers. She has a unique way of helping leaders see organisations not simply as structures or collections of people, but as living systems of relationships, roles and patterns. I have learned a great deal from Joan's work over the years, and every conversation with her challenges me to see organisations differently. Together we explore leadership, adaptation, complexity and what organisations may need to rethink as AI becomes part of the fabric of work. I hope you enjoy this thoughtful and timely conversation with Joan Lurie. About I am the CEO of Orgonomics, a company I founded in 2008 to assist leaders and organisations to adapt, thrive and function at their growing edge. My work integrates strategy, systems thinking, complexity, narrative, ecology and developmental theory. Over 30 years I’ve worked with boards, executives and leadership teams as a coach and consultant helping them achieve turnaround results - together emerging new cultures, operating models and different organisational systems, whilst simultaneously building their adaptive capacity. Through this practice and experimentation, I have developed Orgonomics™ - a proprietary methodology which provides a ‘map’ for leaders to go beyond reductionism to navigate the complexity we are in. Referred to as ground-breaking, Orgonomics enables leaders to fundamentally shift their ways of seeing and knowing to be more systemic; reframe their assumptions and mental maps and repattern their organisational systems for new ways of relating and operating, to achieve higher order functioning and performance. As a developmental psychologist and systemic change consultant my core purpose is to ensure that leaders and organisations are able to continuously develop, learn and grow to be fit for and thrive in our complex world. Developing a systems lens, relational intelligence and comfort with not ‘knowing’ used to be a ‘nice to have', but it has now become our individual and organisational imperative; we have to accelerate it for the good of our whole ecology. Contact Joan’s profile linkedin.com/in/joan-lurie-73bb0215 Website orgonomics.com (Company) Send us Fan Mail Support the show Ali Juma @The Inner Game of Change podcast Follow me on LinkedIn

Why didn't lecturers disappear? For more than 700 years, the role of the lecturer has survived books, the printing press, libraries, the internet, and now artificial intelligence. In this episode of Stories of Change , we explore a fascinating question. How did one of the world's oldest professions keep evolving while the technologies around it kept changing? The story is not really about lecturers. It is about what happens when the thing that once made us valuable becomes easy to access. Perhaps the question is not whether AI will replace us. Perhaps the better question is: what becomes valuable next? Grab a coffee and join me for this 10 minute story. Send us Fan Mail Support the show Ali Juma @The Inner Game of Change podcast Follow me on LinkedIn

Welcome to The Inner Game of Change . where we explore the thinking that shapes how change really happens. Why is it that people can sit in a room, agree with a strategy, support a transformation and nod enthusiastically at a presentation, only to struggle when the change finally arrives? Today's guests suggest the answer may lie in a concept called psychological distance. Terri Block and Susan Bartlett from Workomics spend their days helping organisations bring customers, stakeholders and teams together to solve complex problems through co creation. In this conversation we explore Construal Level Theory, why humans think differently about things that feel distant versus things that feel immediate, and why co creation may be one of the most powerful ways of helping people move from abstract ideas to tangible action. Along the way we discuss ownership, expertise, accountability, skin in the game, whether facilitators can ever truly be neutral, and even whether artificial intelligence can become a co creator. I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation and I think you will too. I am grateful to have Susan and Terri chatting with me today. About The Guests Susan Bartlett I am a principal at Workomics, where we help biotechs bring life-changing therapies to patients. I contribute to projects from the perspectives of go-to-market strategy, operational effectiveness, human-centred design, and strategic communications. I treasure my colleagues and my clients, and feel fortunate to be able to work with them every day. I write a monthly Substack newsletter (please subscribe!). Through the newsletter, I explore how we make work and workplaces better for people — customer-centric, inclusive and equitable, focused on employee well-being, meaningfully integrated with emerging technology. In the past, I have been a Rhodes Scholar, a CEO, and a licensed propane dispenser, only one of which involved an objective assessment of my abilities. I love to solve specific, pragmatic problems by drawing on a variety of disciplines and traditions — my university degrees span English literature, software design, philosophy, politics, and economics, and computer science. At various points in my career, I have devoted myself to: — Communicating complex medical concepts to patients. — Architecting the data, software, technology, and IT governance structures of large enterprises. — Embedding human-centred design capabilities to enable customer experience. — Applying machine learning techniques to natural language problems. Terri Block I co-lead Workomics where we help biotechs and pharma bring life-changing medications to patients who need it. We focus on patient experience including go-to-market strategies and campaigns, creating impactful educational experiences for patients and their care teams, and empowering internal teams to champion patient-centricity across their organization. My career in human-centered design in the life sciences industry spans 10 years and is underpinned by a whole other career in theatre and teaching. The red thread is bringing the best out in people and imagining better possibilities for our work-at-hand. I am a creative at heart and author of Words of Wonder www.wordsofwonderbook.com. Contact workomics.com Send us Fan Mail Support the show Ali Juma @The Inner Game of Change podcast Follow me on LinkedIn

Stories of Change is a special series from The Inner Game of Change. In this series, I explore stories from history, business, science, education, and sometimes from unexpected places. Some stories are famous. Many are not. Together, we will uncover the lessons hidden inside them and what they can teach us about change, leadership, human behaviour, innovation, trust, learning, and adaptation. In this first episode of Stories of Change, we explore what elevators, trust, adoption, and artificial intelligence might have in common, and why every generation has its own version of the rope. Send us Fan Mail Support the show Ali Juma @The Inner Game of Change podcast Follow me on LinkedIn

Inside the Messy Middle is a special series from T he Inner Game of Change This fortnightly short series is for people who carry responsibility inside complexity. Between strategy and delivery. Between intent and impact. Between what was imagined and what must now be made real. In this episode of Inside the Messy Middle , I explore a salient idea: What if organisations are not resisting change… but being pulled back by the gravity of the current way of working? As AI enters workplaces, many organisations are introducing new capabilities while still operating inside environments designed for older workflows, behaviours, incentives, and assumptions. Through stories from business and history, including the arrival of electricity in factories and the persistence of the QWERTY keyboard, Ali explores why transformation often stalls even when people are willing to move. This episode is about: • behavioural gravity • environmental design • AI adoption versus workflow redesign • why old systems keep pulling people back • and the hidden tension between movement and stability inside organisations Because sometimes the challenge is not the future itself. It is the environment still rewarding the past. Send us Fan Mail Support the show Ali Juma @The Inner Game of Change podcast Follow me on LinkedIn

Welcome to The Inner Game of Change . where we explore the thinking that shapes how change really happens. Today’s conversation is less about technology and more about people. Four years after our first discussion around bad change , I reconnect with Gilbert Kruidenier to explore the current state of change in a world shaped by AI, overload, constant adaptation, and growing pressure on organisations and people alike. We discuss learning, leadership, redesign, burnout, human capacity, and why the real challenge may no longer be technology adoption, but how humans absorb continuous change. I am grateful to have Gilbert chatting with me today. About Gilbert With 20 years of experience in change, communication, and project management, I know exactly how to help organisations navigate complex and transformative change with purpose, clarity, and empathy. I combine the best of change, communication, and project management practices to support large and medium sized change programs, design and deliver workshops and training, and advise boards on strategic topics. I am also an author, independent business owner, a visiting lecturer at Deakin University and even tried my hand at being a cabinet making apprentice, pursuing my diverse interests and skills in consulting, education, and creating beautiful things with my hands. I have a master's degree in culture and change management, multiple certifications in ADKAR, Digital Transformation, Lean Six Sigma and PRINCE2, and a strong background in public and private sector change and (digital) transformation. My core competencies include change analysis, process improvement, coaching and mentoring, and problem solving. My life goal is to make a positive difference in the lives of others, especially the most disadvantaged in society. Contact info Gilbert’s LinknedIn profile linkedin.com/in/kruidenierconsulting Email gilbert@kruidenierconsulting.com.au Send us Fan Mail Support the show Ali Juma @The Inner Game of Change podcast Follow me on LinkedIn

Inside the Messy Middle is a special series from T he Inner Game of Change This fortnightly short series is for people who carry responsibility inside complexity. Between strategy and delivery. Between intent and impact. Between what was imagined and what must now be made real. In this episode of Inside the Messy Middle , I explore a powerful idea: What if organisations behave like immune systems? As AI enters the workplace, many organisations are not simply reacting to new technology. They are responding to perceived threats to identity, expertise, workflows, control, and certainty. Through stories from medicine, business, and lived organisational experience, I explore why good ideas are sometimes rejected, why thoughtful people hesitate during change, and why resistance is often more complex than it first appears. This episode examines: • the hidden defence mechanisms inside organisations • why AI triggers different reactions across legal, IT, policy, and leadership teams • the psychological side of resistance and uncertainty • the role of leadership and change management in creating safe movement during disruption • what business history can teach us about adaptation and survival Featuring reflections on Semmelweis, Kodak, Nokia, and modern AI adoption dynamics, this episode is a deeper look into the invisible tensions shaping organisational change today. Send us Fan Mail Support the show Ali Juma @The Inner Game of Change podcast Follow me on LinkedIn

Welcome to The Inner Game of Change . where we explore the thinking that shapes how change really happens. Today’s conversation sits at the heart of something we do not talk about enough when it comes to change. We talk about strategy. We talk about tools. We talk about capability and execution. But very rarely do we stop and ask a simpler question. What if the real challenge is not the change itself… but what we cannot see about ourselves as we go through it? In this episode, I sit down with Jill McCauley . Jill is the COO at Behavioral Essentials, and her work focuses on one thing that sits beneath performance, culture, and leadership. Self awareness. She has spent years working alongside leaders and teams, helping them see themselves more clearly, especially in environments that look successful on the outside, but feel very different on the inside. In this conversation, we explore the idea of blind spots in the workplace. Not as abstract concepts… but as real forces that shape how leaders show up, how teams operate, and ultimately how change either moves forward… or quietly stalls. We talk about the hidden cost of leadership without self awareness. Why capable leaders unintentionally create friction. And how the strengths that got us here… can sometimes be the very things that get in the way. There is a simple but powerful idea that runs through this conversation. You cannot change what you cannot see. And the moment you start seeing yourself more clearly… everything else begins to shift. I am grateful to have Jill chatting with me today. About Jill I’ve spent my career working alongside leaders — in boardrooms, executive meetings, and organizations that look successful on paper but feel different on the inside. I’ve learned that this feeling is rarely a strategy problem or a skills gap. It’s a self-awareness problem. Capable leaders unintentionally create friction. Teams spend time managing dynamics instead of doing the work. Meetings become more painful than they need to be. Energy and efforts get wasted. And no one can quite name why things feel harder than they should. This is the hidden cost of leadership without self-awareness. Over time, I stopped seeing these challenges as individual failures and started seeing them as systemic issues. As organizations grow, roles evolve, pressure increases, and identities lag behind reality. Leaders keep relying on the same strengths that got them here, without realizing those strengths may now be creating blindspots, tension, or misalignment downstream. Self-awareness isn’t soft. And it isn’t intuitive for everyone. It’s a discipline, practice, and a leadership responsibility. That can’t be ignored. At Behavioral Essentials, we work with leaders, teams, and organizations to build awareness where it actually matters — in how people show up, make decisions, communicate under pressure, and impact the systems around them. This work sits at the intersection of psychology, behavior, and real-world leadership demands. It’s not about labeling people or fixing personalities. It’s about creating clarity, reducing unnecessary suffering, and helping organizations function with more ease, accountability, and effectiveness. I’ve seen what happens when leaders are willing to look honestly at themselves, and when organizations create space for that work. Conflict becomes more productive. Roles align more cleanly. Teams stop compensating for leadership gaps. And people get back to doing the work they were actually hired to do.This work applies across industries and career stages — from founders navigating growth, to CEOs leading complex systems, t Send us Fan Mail Support the show Ali Juma @The Inner Game of Change podcast Follow me on LinkedIn

Inside the Messy Middle is a special series from T he Inner Game of Change This fortnightly short series is for people who carry responsibility inside complexity. Between strategy and delivery. Between intent and impact. Between what was imagined and what must now be made real. These episodes are not about tools or frameworks. They are reflections on judgement, dignity, and the human cost of change as it is actually lived. The Weight of the Middle Feels Heavier Than the Authority. This episode explores a reality many middle managers and change makers quietly carry. Seeing what needs to change. Feeling responsible for making it work. But not always having the authority to fully shape it. Drawing on history, from Roman centurions to naval captains, and modern organisations like Toyota, this episode reflects on a pattern that has always existed. Responsibility does not always come with full control. And in the messy middle, leadership is often less about authority… and more about judgement. Send us Fan Mail Support the show Ali Juma @The Inner Game of Change podcast Follow me on LinkedIn

Welcome to The Inner Game of Change . where we explore the thinking that shapes how change really happens. Today I am joined by Shannon Lucas . Shannon is the Co CEO of Catalyst Constellations, where she works with executive teams to close the gap between the speed of change and the speed of execution. And in this conversation, we explore what that might mean in practice. We talk about discernment. We talk about resistance as a signal. We talk about fear in the system. And we explore the reality of leading change when everything is moving at pace. One idea! AI might be acting as a kind of mirror. Reflecting how we think, how we decide, and how we design work. In simple terms, what we notice may shape what happens next. This is an episode for those navigating change in real systems. Not just designing it on paper. I am grateful to have Shannon chatting with me today. About I help executive teams and organizations build the muscle to transform continuously without burning out their best people or watching momentum die between initiatives. Most organizations treat transformation like a one-time event: hire consultants, launch the program, declare victory, exhaust everyone involved, then wonder why nothing sticks. I work with CEOs and C-suite leaders to break that cycle by building real change capability into how their organizations actually operate. As Co-CEO of Catalyst Constellations, I bring 20+ years of enterprise-scale innovation and transformation experience from companies like Ericsson, Cisco, and Vodafone. I’ve owned a $150M P&L, generated over $1B in new business pipeline, and learned firsthand what actually works (and what definitely doesn't) when you're trying to change how global organizations operate. My approach combines hard-won operational experience with ongoing research into how transformation really happens. I co-authored the #1 Amazon bestseller Move Fast. Break Shit. Burn Out. based on our research into Catalysts (the highly action-oriented change agents inside organizations who can't stop themselves from driving change). We wrote it after watching too many talented people flame out while trying to transform their companies without the right support or frameworks. And based on lived personal experience. I believe the organizations that will thrive are the ones that stop treating change as an event and start building the human, cultural, and structural capacity to adapt continuously. These are the firms that turn transformation into a sustained advantage rather than a recurring disruption. My mission: help make the world's largest organizations more sustainable in every sense of the word: for people, profit, and planet. Shannon’s profile linkedin.com/in/shannonglucas Website catalystconstellations.com (Company) Send us Fan Mail Support the show Ali Juma @The Inner Game of Change podcast Follow me on LinkedIn

Inside the Messy Middle is a special series from T he Inner Game of Change This fortnightly short series is for people who carry responsibility inside complexity. Between strategy and delivery. Between intent and impact. Between what was imagined and what must now be made real. These episodes are not about tools or frameworks. They are reflections on judgement, dignity, and the human cost of change as it is actually lived. This episode is for anyone who has started moving, only to find that the plan does not quite hold once it meets the real world. The shift. The tension between following the plan and adjusting it. The quiet judgement required to make things work in practice. This is where many middle managers and change makers operate. Not just executing plans, but reshaping them to fit reality. Because change does not move forward because of the plan alone. It moves forward because of how people engage with it. Send us Fan Mail Support the show Ali Juma @The Inner Game of Change podcast Follow me on LinkedIn

Welcome to The Inner Game of Change . where we explore the thinking that shapes how change really happens. Today’s conversation is not really about technology. It is about decision making. It is about how we make calls when we do not fully know how something will land. How we rely on instinct, experience, and sometimes guesswork. And now AI is entering that space. Not to replace the human, but to sit alongside the human. So the question becomes, are we moving into a world of human in the loop, or AI in the loop supporting human judgement? Today I am joined by Millie Marconi . Millie is a serial entrepreneur who has been building most of her life. She has created over sixty products across ecommerce, SaaS, mobile games, and recruitment tech. She raised capital, built a product to early revenue, and then made a very deliberate decision to pivot in public when she hit scaling friction. What triggered that pivot is what caught my attention. A single AI generated LinkedIn post that did not land. And her reflection was simple and powerful. How something lands matters more than how it sounds in your head. From that moment, she started to explore what she now calls a perception problem. Not a content problem. She is now building TestFeed, a platform that allows you to simulate how your message, your idea, or your decision might land before it goes out into the world. In simple terms, helping humans make better decisions before the consequences arrive. What I enjoyed in this conversation is that it is not just about the tool. It is about judgement. It is about confidence. And it is about what happens when we start to reduce the unknown. Let’s get into it. About Oh, I'm Millie. I'm a serial entrepreneur and have been building my entire (professional) life since I was 20 - I've built over 60 products across e-commerce, SaaS, mobile games, and recruitment tech. I've had one 'real' job which lasted a matter of months, and we don’t talk about that. I put my entrepreneurship down to incredible impatience, painful curiosity, and inspiration from my immigrant grandfather, who came to Australia from Italy with nothing and built a fantastic life for himself and our family (and, as a child, introduced me to the joys of red wine and orange juice at breakfast). In 2023, I joined Antler as a solo founder, raised and built a recruitment product that hit $100K in revenue. But after hitting scaling friction in enterprise sales, I made the hard call to pivot - and did it in public. The insight came from an unexpected place: a single LinkedIn post. It was AI-generated. It bombed. And it sparked a realisation: “How something lands matters more than how it sounds in your head.” I wasn’t alone. In dozens of conversations with founders, marketers, and execs, the same problem kept surfacing: “I don’t know how this message will land.” That became the thesis: businesses don’t have a content problem - they have a perception problem. That’s what I’m building now: TestFeed, the world’s first perspective engine. TestFeed lets you simulate how your audience will react using synthetic audiences - before you hit send. Sales emails. Internal updates. Product decisions. Investor decks. Social posts. We help you predict reactions, spot blind spots, and stress-test communication across any channel, without needing to run a focus group or annoy your team with endless drafts. I lead the business as CEO (in my opinion, this title is a total wank unless you have at least 10 people, but alas) I’m building for prosumers and enterprises alike. A little bit about me outside of entrepreneurship: I’m a marathon runner, a reading lover. I’ve been fortunate enough to travel the w Send us Fan Mail Support the show Ali Juma @The Inner Game of Change podcast Follow me on LinkedIn