Take ownership of your sustainability goals with Larissa Rose | Get Fact Up #110

Video Transcript

Chris Hogan - G'day world, Chris Hogan coming to you live from MeMedia studio, here with Burleigh Heads for episode 110 of Get Fact Up. I have with me today this beautiful guest, Larissa Rose. Who I met probably only two weeks ago, from a LinkedIn little message and we realised we were pretty close to one another geographically. Larissa's from Glowing Green Australia. I'm gonna attempt an intro here on what Larissa's all about. Basically sustainability and measurement, is what I think Larissa's all about. If I can sum her up in two words, is that sustainability and measurement. Now if you're a company going for those sustainability values, or organisation for that matter and you need to measure the impact of what your doing, then Larissa's your woman.

Larissa Rose- Well done.

Chris Hogan - [Chris] Is that all right?

Larissa Rose- Yeah, I think you've capped that up pretty well, for sure.

Chris Hogan - [Chris] Cool.

Larissa Rose- I can put some frilly lace around that as well.

Chris Hogan - Lets do it. So can you explain, firstly Glowing Green Australia, what it is you do. Or maybe what qualifications you have. Just pad that out a little bit for us.

Larissa Rose - Yeah, absolutely. I'm an environmental consultant and director for Glowing Green Australia. We do two different parts in our business model. One is the environmental consultancy, all the stuff you just talked about. In respect to companies and businesses potentially looking at how they can progress with their sustainability. Their operational cost and what that means environmentally. Also, a lot of companies that need to ensure that they're meeting environmental legislation rules and regulations so we do that side. The other fun side of it is doing the environmental education. We go in and embed environmental initiatives and programmes a lot in schools, but also with a lot of businesses as well. You wanna teach about environment.

Chris Hogan - Okay, so when it comes down to the rules, who's setting the rules here? Is it the company saying we wanna be 100% sustainable, or zero carbon footprint by 2050, and that's the rules they set for themselves? Or is it more so, they've got an environmental impact study that's been done for their mining company and they have to make sure they're not leaking any ugly stuff into the creaks?

Larissa Rose - Yeah, absolutely. So there's two different ways people define their wanting to come to us, and the services that we have. A lot of that is their self-ownership within the company or the firm might want to look at the operational cost. What is that? What does that mean? How do we pull down and get less waste, less water, less energy? So lets look at that and we do a bit of an audit, an assessments. That really helps support them with their future potential to do branding and market that. So we might get some base line benchmark numbers for them. Then we start progressing across over the years, then they can relay and talk back to that. So that's really great to see and that's a really big shift in the culture around people understanding and identifying every move and choice that they do has a significant impact. Then there's a normal regulation part, like legislation and law as per Australian Environment Regulations, And also Queensland. What we need to do here locally on building codes and that sort of work as well.

Chris Hogan - Cool.

Larissa Rose - [Larissa] Yeah.

Chris Hogan - I really like the first part, where your saying your analysing, or doing an audit on how they might be using or overusing some of their resources and not being 100% sustainable. That really fits into I guess corporate values and sustainability values and also what we're involved in. When we're going into a place trying to understand their values and their purpose and define that purpose with them. So I can see a real good fit there. Okay, you have sustainability as a purpose or a value. Me personally, I do analytics online. Digital analytics and data. I don't go and capture those touchy feely sort of data. That would be where you come in I imagine.

Larissa Rose - Yeah. We really do, when we go in and see a business that wants to start making a shift and change- Self-ownership one, not one that's been driven by regulation or some sort of rule. It's really important to get into the crook's of who they are and where they're at and building that ethos and that vision. Looking, every business is different because they have a different narrative that they want to attach to it. Some are a little bit more economically orientated. Look, how do we start finding solutions that do minimalize some of the cost that we're spending on certain parts. One of that might be simply on paper. We're not doing to much on paper or how do we reduce our water? Then there might be other businesses that look at it, well they're going driving purely on an environmental perspective straight away. For them the economic benefit's are a secondary level. Because their ethos resonates quite a lot on that environment component. Yeah, it's really great. It is like you, you know just shaping out and manoeuvring it. it's like a piece of Play Dough and contouring it and how they want it to move and progress forward. Every job in business is different. That's what I so love about it, is that capacity to really create that hook and that space for that business and that client to be able to take a really good ownership around what that is and what that means to them now but also in the future. Yeah.

Chris Hogan - Fantastic. Are you seeing sort of wide scale adoption here? What sort of phase of the bell curve are we in? Are we in early adoption? Innovation early adoption? Early majority? Where are we in the bell curve?

Larissa Rose - Yeah. With a big trend that I'm noticing lately within our business model and the environmental education side, which does pull down a lot on a lot of the schools. We've done a lot of progressive work, some of the biggest schools here on the Gold Coast, really going in the back hand and kept very quiet on it because setting their bench marks, doing all that auditing work plus embedding programmes into the schools. To make change because it's all behavioural. Were noticing that trend. So we've had a fair push probably over the last six months from referrals from the other schools, to go we've heard about the work you did with this school, we would really like to be able to do something. We're sort of at this stage so it might be small. So I'm noticing a lot with the schools taking-

Chris Hogan - State or private?

Larissa Rose - Both, we've had both.

Chris Hogan - Wow.

Larissa Rose - Yeah. Would be even kill, absolutely for that. Yeah.

Chris Hogan - That's progressive in itself.

- Yeah absolutely.

Chris Hogan - I would expect private to be progressive but not no where near as much for states. That builds a little bit of confidence doesn't it? In your .

Larissa Rose - Yeah. To see, sometimes it's really teacher driven and it's teachers in the school are like we want change, it really upsets me we don't have recycling bins anymore. Or something basic, that's how full on it is Chris. There are schools who still don't have recycling bins.

Chris Hogan - [Chris] Okay, that's a little bit sadder.

Larissa Rose - Yeah. Well there's parts on the Gold Coast that don't have recycling bins, just as sad.

Chris Hogan - Or bins.

Larissa Rose - [Larissa] Or bins. Yeah, it's really good to see that shift and that culture. Especially that's teachers anywhere from the ages of you know 30 to 50 who are approaching. They go hey we heard about the school that you did. Could you do that? Then there's a lot of principles that maybe sort of look at it economically and what's it gonna cost for someone to come in and help a third party come in and really help us take ownership on that. When you start showcasing the narrative of what you can embed and the message you can embed into the community and that duty of care the schools have, to the community as well. Their footprint sometime is like a small community, some of the numbers of pupils that are at these schools. When you start shaping that and then start talking about the opportunities that come from taking this change and making this change. Weather that's you know, they can talk about I did this and then they can vouch for the local politicians, stuff that they want more funding to help support and enable greater outcomes at the school. That is how we do and mostly work a lot with that.

Chris Hogan - [Chris] Amazing. So given that industry, the education industries on fire at the moment for you. What's business life like on the Gold Coast? What's the sentiment like?

Larissa Rose - Well, in environment it's been up and down, I guess at times. I guess that could be where I'm going in my business as well and stuff like that. As everyone knows it's one of those fun rides when you start your own business. You do that whole entrepreneur scenario kind of dialogue. It's full on and it's foul and it's hard.

Chris Hogan - But it's fun too?

Larissa Rose - And it's fun if you chuck another f in there. My business has ebbed and flowed a lot. I was more of a mature aged student doing my environmental studies in my late twenties. I started when I was 29, 30. Already had two children at that stage. When I got through to my masters I had my third, so I sort of did a year or so break in the middle of my Masters and then realised I wanted to hurry up and finish it. Through that period of time I started my environment business Glowing Green in 2010 and then it took of pretty quick actually. While I was at university doing a few contracts that I gained and then a lot of the school work came on board and I really started shaping out that model and approach of what I do in schools. That sort of cultivated quite well. You need to keep a lot of stamina and momentum keep on going on it. I've done this space of feeling like sometimes I'm crawling in the trenches and the next minute I'm like okay I'm sort of in the meadow a little bit more and is feels great. Then the next minute, all of a sudden crawling through the trenches again. I've made some decisions through that time as well to branch out and do something I really had my teeth into, which has been the renewable fuels space. Something I specialised a lot of my research in. That differed away from glowing Green to some degree as well, and running another industry association, starting another industry body was absolutely huge thing to do. I was thinking well, it'll be fine. I've got my environmental consultancy business. It's kind of good, I've got the flow. At that time I was in a partnership and then that fell a part. I was like wow, I have to earn minimum two grand a week now to make amazing stuff happen in my life and to keep a business going. Plus I'm running an industry association on the smell of an oily bar fuel rag. Then I was like wow Larissa, you've really not thought about some of these things that your doing. Keeping that whole boat afloat has been massive for me Chris. It's been such a space of self-ownership and ego and pride. And then realising that self doubt and anxiety and thought process and thinking your not good enough or not doing. I should be somewhere else, I'm 40 now I should be at a different level than what I'm at.

Chris Hogan - Oooohhh.

Larissa Rose - [Larissa] All of that kind of head funk, which I like to call it sometimes. I've transitioned and understood that it's time for me, I had to move away from the industry association and put full focus on Glowing Green Australia. Because that is mine and that is it. The energy embedded in the other one was not gonna have as much return on investment as Glowing Green. I've been in the last year, feeling like it's time to crawl out of the gravel and trenches again. The valley of darkness as I call it. Shoot through the other side. Really pull down on everything. I read and see and I know it's okay to know all this great amazing stuff that you and I would be listening to all the time, but putting it in your tool belt and actually using that tool. Larissa sort your shit out today, you've got to make some really great stuff happen this week. Swapping that narrative in those times when I felt like oh my god what am I doing?

Chris Hogan - [Chris] Yeah. I can totally empathise, had similar challenges in my life. I think your trying to ride two horses. As my mentor Lee kelson and business partner in Beach City would say, "To ride two horses you need two arses" and he doesn't know anybody with two arses. it's proper difficult, your swapping from one horse to the other constantly. That means your distracted 50% of the time. How's that going? How's the bio-fuels thing going and how's Glowing Green going?

Larissa Rose - Yeah good. I had to do a transition with that and you just nailed it. I kind of thought that it was possible to do. I finally had to hit the bottom, for me because I'm so stubborn sometimes. I'm like no, I can do it, I'll make it happen. Can be really great at that and I'm so optimistic. Yep, I can just manoeuvre this, but really at the end of the day that wasn't serving me well. I was actually not working to my full capabilities and my best that I could. In turn it caused a significant detriment on my own personal business model that I'd been doing since 2010. At the end of the day you don't own an industry association. You could have started it, and you made it look great and it's pretty and you built the business model. But at the end of the day, I am just a director and I can fall of that and that's it, and then it's gone and I've got Glowing Green. I had to just get back to basics and look at that and realise what you said, can't ride two horses. I did that and it's been over the last six months, that transitions occurred. I've stepped away from the directorship in the industry association and went Larissa it's okay. It doesn't mean your not good enough. Just all that crazy narrative that goes on sometimes. I didn't think I had, I didn't think I was harsh on myself but It really surfaced a lot through that experience. Stepping away from that directorship, taking on something that was more digestible, a very small leadership role to look after renewable fuels in Australia and went yep that fit's much better into my capacity. Being a single woman with three children and tryna punch and push and do all the work building profile building business, then pull back to Glowing Green. I can tell you right now, probably the month before I met you, I was doing the I feel like I'm losing my shit. And I'm crying and it's hard work and fire anxieties like all time high. Shit I used to wonder, many years ago you hear people say their depressed and I'm like go sort your shit out. Go do something great and rad and happy. Go for a surf, go to the beach. I couldn't understand why you would be depressed, couldn't understand it.

Chris Hogan - I'm so with you on that one.

Larissa Rose - And now I've been, okay, yep, universe just slapped me in the face so I can understand all these little things surface up.

Chris Hogan - [Chris] Yeah.

Larissa Rose - You know. Yeah, it's been really hard. I've just kind of really punched through a lot the last few months, with understanding what I needed to do a little bit more. it's one of those things, sometimes you've gotta go through those really foul, tricky times.

Chris Hogan - [Chris] 100%.

Larissa Rose - Then you just pop out the other side. Not meaning as you got millions of bloody jobs that are coming through and you're killing it. Just something shifted. I'm really grateful for it. Those little cogs, that felt they were so not even moving anywhere, and literally I feel like I swear I've got gravel scars from crawling through that trench. Feeling on my legs because at times I would just be like I don't know what's gonna go on. Maybe I just need to do this. Maybe I just need to do that. All this effort and time I've put into building a business, you wonder how much further along you can go. Your draining your pond to survive, the business pond that you keep on going. Then your just doing so much good stuff, to a point where I was like okay universe, I've done full on frigging everything now. I don't know what to do for you. I don't know what else to do. I'm trying so hard here, I'm applying everything and anything I need to do, I'm not being a slack arse. Not being lazy, I'm engaging. I'm doing everything, I'm trying to push and be on the forefront and engage. What are you gonna do for me? So that ultimate space, then I noticed over the months after that I started to pop out of it.

Chris Hogan - [Chris] Yeah.

Larissa Rose - Yeah.

Chris Hogan - [Chris] 100% there. I empathise with the whole scars thing. It's funny to maybe it's the 40 thing too. it's the maturity that comes with the age of 40. Probably would have said I was this mature at age 20, but no I wasn't now. Wonder what the next 10 years is gonna bring? Then the business maturity too. The whole experience of being in business. I've been a sole trader since 1998 then had to hold down various employment, employee roles and all of that sort of stuff, to try build a business on the side and then start this business. That being said, just the scars, the adversity that you have to go through I think. That really changes the way you think about business and about life and what's important and what isn't. To be honest, I don't think I could have read that in a book. I couldn't have watched a movie about it and got it. No one could have told me, and I actually would have gone yep okay, I take exactly what you said and I'm gonna implement that. You have to earn those scars don't you? It makes you a better business person.

Larissa Rose - Yeah, absolutely. I've got staff and my office at Palm Beach, just to have had all of that and taking quite a lot of interns. I know I can pull down on those scars to help instil confidence in them. I have this big drop line all the time that I say about building the leaders of the future and stuff like that. I can't say that unless I've actually felt what it was like to have scar tissue. The evolvement for me through this last year or so has been massive. I actually give so much gratefulness and thanks to the fact that I transitioned out of that role.

Chris Hogan - Me too.

Larissa Rose - And that space and understanding to let go, and it's okay. It doesn't mean that you failed Larissa, that you've not in that association isn't what it is. It's no reflection. There was a stupid funky criteria, not even a criteria. Just judging sheet that I had on myself because of that or this or that or-

Chris Hogan - Was it social expectations?

Larissa Rose - Yeah a little bit. A lot of pride as well was attached. I didn't think I had that much pride, but whoa by dang did I have a lot embedded in that role and that profile and that space and stuff and work.

Chris Hogan - Would you also term it ego sort of a little bit too?

- Absolutely, yeah ego, absolutely. I've been actually learning how to process and digest that over those months Chris. That for me I think, is what has been it. The big one to go it is okay to let go. You know what when I finally did let go, I had to go through that grow space, I released and then I allowed more amazing rad stuff to happen and come in.

Chris Hogan - Open mindedness right?

Larissa Rose - Absolutely, thinking much more limitless. Oh if that goes that's not gonna happen and that but Larissa your not even thinking abundantly and limitless like you say that you doing all the time. Your not even applying that principle right now because you know that when you stop and let go and release and understand that's it, it's served it's purpose, it's done what it needed to do, it shaped me to be the human that I am right now in the present moment, that's amazing. That is great. That is good. Stop looking at things like okay it failed, you don't have that any more so it's not good. What about the 100 other rad things that you learned from the experience and who you met. You taught yourself how to do this type of reporting. You learned how to have really great conversations with politicians. You learned how to lobby or negotiate, navigate through that corporate stuff that I could have done five MBA's on that and still I'm way better that doing five MBA's. Go thorough that chunky stuff, break it down, think it, lean on people, have good sounding boards around me to help chunk it out. Then yeah, release and in it flows.

Chris Hogan - [Chris] Beautiful.

Larissa Rose - Fresh air, open up that door.

Chris Hogan - [Chris] Beautiful. Was there any book, even though I said it, one book couldn't have changed me but was there? Was there maybe a combination of books or podcasts or something that helped you realise the funk that you were in, or maybe some way to step out of it?

Larissa Rose - [Larissa] Yeah. There's two really great podcast's that are great, which I love. One is, Mark Rhodes, Mark Rogues, he is in relationship- A gentlemen in Canada. Amazing, and it's just not skill setting you for your relationships and your capabilities to be able to be reflective and understand and do that growth and acknowledgement. You can apply that principle to everything. Another one is Brandon Dawson, who is in the states. He has built some major big businesses all the way from him being on a farm, a walnut picker. I've really valued those. One book that's pivotal for me, that I always go and grab all the time is called Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway. That book for me probably about 15 years ago was a catalyst. I can't remember the authors name but please google it and find it, you'll see it. it's Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway. It really just shakes you and challenges you. I use that statement and saying of that book all the time. It's so true. Larissa, feel the fear and do it anyway, go. I'm grateful that I don't get to scared to do things but I don't get to scared when I know they're gonna be fun and exciting and good. When you have to feel the fear anyway, make a decision that you know that's got some detrimental level to it, that takes full conviction and action in the moment. Weather that's with closing something down or acknowledging your business models not working anymore or letting go of a relationship that you just realised is so toxic to you, it's not serving you well at all. Yeah.

Chris Hogan - Yeah, that's maturity in it'self right?

Larissa Rose - Yeah, self worth and value I think really at the baseline of that isn't it?

Chris Hogan - Understanding your values has been a massive journey of mine. Probably over the last few years and a few years back if you had of just said to me what's your purpose? I probably wouldn't have been able to answer that. I ask people that a lot now. I get blank stares and open mouths, the silence is deafening. When you work that through and talk that through and we do work shops on it of course, but it's so exciting for me to be actually able to share the journey that I went on, and the process that I went on to discover that. What my purpose is and how that aligns with my business. My business is a vehicle for my own personal purpose. Breaking out of the trenches like you say, can- I refer to Lee Kelson all the time, I talk to him all of the time, it just beats me up and it's beautiful. He will do this big sigh and go um, and I go what Lee, what? And he'll just tell me how it is and it hurts like buggery but I love it. I was like, I'm getting the real story here, there's no glossy, living up to expectations or telling you what you think you wanna hear kind of stuff. Getting that real truth actually really helps. He says, "get out of the trenches, raise your gaze." "Stop being so tactical and be more strategic." When your going though those trenches, your probably in it. You can't do anything else but be tactical and put one foot in front of the other and just keep going. Or crawling, whatever it feels like right? But eventually when you come out of it and you raise yourself above it, that's the breakthrough isn't it? Your almost like your sitting above yourself or where you were, looking down and going, right. See all the errors of my ways, I see some positive stuff to. it's like your looking down on top of a maze or something. You go , oh yeah, instead of turning left there I should have turned right. That's what strategy is for me. Do you feel like you've been more strategic in your approach to business now that your someone out of those trenches?

Larissa Rose - Absolutely, the universe has completely bitch slapped me. I needed it. I needed one on each side of the cheeks. Now, oh my goodness, my ownership around that and my attentiveness to thinking like that and being conscious of that and not being maybe sometimes complacent at times. I'm like yeah it's all good. That's not served me well. That's a great attribute to have, however that needs to turn down the dial a little bit. And you need to turn the dial up on this one Larissa. So yeah, for sure. Definitely have felt for myself over the last 6 months. I've had a lot more better with strategy and embedding that more and looking at it, but also going back and having a look back and going make sure you learn and reflect on that space or that process. Because remember Larissa, what happened last time.

Chris Hogan - I'm sure there was some really good stuff that you can go, that was great, that was great. That was great but there was just some valleys of death somewhere in the middle or mixed up between them. You picked the best parts of all of them and that's what makes you the best human you are now right?

Larissa Rose - Yeah.

Chris Hogan - You have much more empowering conversations with clients and people, like we're having now. I think adversity is so important and to be honest I lived a blessed life growing up and I think if I hadn't gone through business challenges. Life's beautiful. But if I hadn't gone through those business challenges and that adversity, the self-reflections and anxiety. I found anxiety at 4am one morning and went what the hell is that?

Larissa Rose - [Larissa] Hello.

Chris Hogan - Someone told me about this. I did the whole laugh and went whoa! I can't breathe. I was like that was crazy. Didn't think that was ever gonna hit me. Because it has, I feel like I'm a much better person for it and I bet you are too.

Larissa Rose - Yeah absolutely. Just feeling really content and being in that present moment knowing that it is what it is and everything has had a process to serve you well.

Chris Hogan - Yeah, fail forward is something I like to say. Apparently it's a book title, I've never read it. Maybe I'll have to.

Larissa Rose - Maybe.

Chris Hogan - Larissa, thank you so much for your time. I love the journey of that conversation. How do people stay across what it is you're up to? Because I know you're going to be doing some cool things coming up. Where's the best place to follow you?

Larissa Rose - Yeah absolutely. Probably everything on any social media handle except for Snapchat because I'm not on that one.

Chris Hogan - Are you on TikTok?

Larissa Rose - No, not on that one either. So there's two that I'm not on and the moment, who are predominantly dictating. I'm on LinkedIn as Larissa Rose, my personal profile. Everything else is Glowing green Australia, so you can see where we're at and what we're doing. So yeah, it's great.

Chris Hogan - Thanks very much Larissa. Thanks for watching guys. Plenty more coming to you on memedia.com to you and check out the socials as well. Cheers.

- Cheers.