Episode Transcript
[00:00:13] Speaker A: You're listening to the Brand Alchemy Podcast with your hosts, Jared Asher and Jarrod Brake, where we uncover the stories and truths of real entrepreneurs and their journeys of growth and brand transformation. For more information, go to www.timelesscreative.com.au/boardroom
[00:00:35] Speaker B: Hey, guys, how you going? This is Jared Asher Herring. Welcome back to the Brand Alchemy podcast where we uncover the stories of entrepreneurs who transformed their own visions into reality. I'm Jared Asher Herring, as I said, joined by my co host, Jared Brake.
[00:00:49] Speaker C: Hey, everyone. Jared here. Great to have you back again for another episode.
[00:00:53] Speaker B: Great to have you, Jared. How you been, buddy? You been well?
[00:00:55] Speaker C: Been good? Always good.
[00:00:56] Speaker B: As you know, Jared, we've got a very special guest here by the name of Damon, and I'm looking forward to having a conversation with him. We were just talking about the background about Damon and his lifestyle, his family and his business. Interestingly, we haven't discussed or had any interviews with with a lawyer. So I'm excited to to be able to talk to Damon today. But before I go into that, welcome to all of you listening in today. Appreciate your time and energy of being here. We just launched our podcast as of this week, so it's a very exciting time for us. So thank you again for being here.
[00:01:30] Speaker D: Hey, guys, how you doing? Thanks for having me on.
[00:01:33] Speaker B: So for those of you listening in, tuning in today, just a bit of a welcome for. For you. So Damon is the founder and director of Odyssey Legal, a Sunshine coast legal litigation business. Having worked in litigation and dispute resolution for several years now, Damon is highly skilled across the aspects of business law, civil and commercial litigation, building and construction, bankruptcy, insolvency, defamation, peace and good behavior disputes outside of legal matters. Damon. Damon maintains a passionate interest in Muay Thai, something I'm passionate about as well, and enjoys spending quality time with his friends and family. So, mate, good to have you here. Damon.
[00:02:10] Speaker D: All right, thanks for having me on. It's good to chat. It's been a while since I've been on a podcast, so I'm looking forward to it.
[00:02:16] Speaker B: Yeah, awesome, mate. Well, look, for everyone that's listening in. Yeah, give me the lowdown. Give us the lowdown, buddy. What's are you being. What are you up to? What's the story of Damon?
[00:02:27] Speaker D: Story of Damon? That's a good question. So I've recently just started Odyssey Legal here on the Sunshine coast back in August. So at the moment, a lot of my time is spent trying to get her off the ground, as it were.
We deal with all things business, litigation and dispute resolution. But at the same time I'm really loving the creative freedom that comes with the business. So your marketing, understanding, the psychology of sales and then everything that just comes from running a business, how it all kind of started. Well, that kind of goes back to when I was kind of freshly 18, not having any clue what I want to do with my life. I kind of applied for a job, or should say fell into a job in a criminal and conveyancing firm of all things, which I couldn't even imagine doing today.
Essentially they needed a male presence because they were predominantly female staff and they were dealing with a, a lot of criminal work, which can be kind of intimidating. So if anything escalated, they just needed a male presence there. But in saying that, looking back now as a little scrawny 18 year old, I don't think I would have been much help.
So from there I kind of just kind of learned the ropes a bit through the processes, the court system, which was pretty eye opening as an 18 year old seeing kind of everything that goes on behind the curtain, you know, from running, drugs, assaults, everything on, you know, behind the curtain as it were. So that kind of gave me a bit of interest into the law aspect. And a few years into working there, I actually decided to start studying. I'm like, oh, I could probably do this, it seems pretty easy to be honest.
So I started studying. Fortunately, that firm that I was with, they had a whole heap of internal issues and the boss basically came to me and said, hey, look, you can stick around and see if we stay open, otherwise you can go get another job.
Unfortunately where I was, it was a little small town, so there was not a lot of law practices looking to hire. It's one of those places that you only can get a job in law if someone kind of retires or passes away, unfortunately.
So I end up working as a laborer. So I worked with a company that did electrical, electrical couplers for the mines, which is like your big power packs or your big machinery, which was pretty interesting because we got to, I got to see something a bit different and you know, you knock off at 3 o'clock in the afternoon when you're a laborer. So I had all my afternoon to study and go to gym and actually just enjoy the rest of the day. So I did that for a few years until I'd actually completed my studies.
And then as soon as I completed it, I was just applying for jobs anywhere from Sunshine Coast, Brisbane, Gold coast, just to get out of the small town and kind of get my foot in the Door and get started. Around that same time, I'd actually started the Young Lawyer podcast, which was my idea was to take advice from directors, principal lawyers, senior lawyers, and pass it on to young lawyers that were in a similar position to myself, as well as people going through uni. So that way they get the advice as well as me. It was also used as a bit of a kind of an icebreaker or networking tool, as well as a way to get my name out there in a place that I've never been. I don't have any connections whatsoever.
So I ran that for two, three years up until I had my son. And then I put that on the back burner because I don't feel like I'm the young lawyer anymore. Starting to get up there in years in the legal industry.
And then, yeah, with that job, stayed in the heart of Marichador for two years, doing everything from kind of commercial leasing, commencing to slowly transition into the disputes and litigation space, which is something I really found a passion for. I love the complexity of it. I love having to deal with something different every day and just being able to help clients resolve their issues.
So from there, I actually took up a firm that just took up a job with a firm that just does that, predominantly litigation, which was really good because I got to actually learn all the aspects of it and actually get properly trained in it. Whilst I was doing that, I was also studying my masters in litigation to just to learn a bit more because obviously I'm a sucker for punishment.
So, yes, that was pretty much what was that last two or three years. So I finished my studies and then I hit a stage where, because I was working up in Noosaville, I hit a stage where I was just not a fan of coming home so late and not really getting to see my son that often. So I'd get home at work, from work at 6, 6:30, go to bed at 7.
I didn't think that was much of a life for him or for me or what I wanted out of my life. So I made the decision, among a few other reasons, to jump out onto my own. And it's probably the best decision I've ever made, to be honest.
[00:07:05] Speaker B: That's great, man. That's great. You know, it's interesting you just even just that one point you just said, Dan really hit home for me is the idea of. Of breaking free from the so called, you know, corporate world or, you know, business world as such, and being on your own and taking that leap of faith. Damon, I can fully, I fully relate to that. That happened for me back in 2012 and I experienced the same sort of thing, you know, like I. I've got a young family as well, and one of the motivations was to have more time with them and that burning desire to come home and see them in the afternoons, evenings, and have that. Because you know what, it's like you just said it. It's like you working so hard, but then you end up sort of. For me, I turned around and realized, well, what am I actually doing? What am I striving for? What am I. What is. What is this all about? That, that sort of light bulb moment for me is the thing that really changed my. The course of my life, really, and it started my entrepreneurial journey. How have you found, personally, Damon, that, you know, starting a business, what do you say it was about six, eight months ago?
[00:08:07] Speaker D: Yeah, August last year.
[00:08:10] Speaker B: Yeah.
Yeah, mate. So how have you found that experience making that transition, especially for the audience that are listening right now? Have you got any wisdom and insights and how did you go through that process?
[00:08:21] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. First and foremost, it is not as scary as everyone makes it out to be.
Don't get me wrong, it is stressful dealing with the finances, but if you move that to the side and you look at the other factors, spending more time with your family, having the freedom to dictate and where you work, when you add that up, it is really not as scary as everyone kind of makes it out to me. So I've been pretty lucky to be so supported by my family, my partner especially, who really pushed for me to do it when I was kind of lacking the confidence in it, or I was kind of doubting myself or being able to do it as well as having a really good support group of friends and other lawyers who helped me kind of stay afloat during those initial periods where you are trying to get those initial client acquisitions to start getting the business to turn over.
I think the biggest wisdom I could probably pass on is go into it with an empty cup.
You think that you know anything about business because you've worked in a business or you've been an employee for so long, but the reality is you probably don't know anything. Yes, you can be good at the law work, you can be great at the law work, but that doesn't mean you can sell your business. And that's probably one of the biggest things that I've had to kind of switch off instead of being a lawyer, to be more of a salesman, as bad as it sounds, because most people don't generally like salesmen, but at the end of the day you could be great at the work. But if you can't get the message across to your ideal client, then how are you ever going to attract them?
[00:09:54] Speaker B: Interesting.
[00:09:55] Speaker C: And you talked about going into things with an empty cup. I'm wondering, I would assume in your line of work you mentioned about the complexities that are there and starting up a new business. How do you manage that with the, the type of work that you do, the complex complexities involved, but then be able to take on something new with a, you know, an open mind, a clear mind, like I guess self care is the. Is the question I'm asking.
[00:10:21] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah. I try to break up my day.
So generally in the mornings, like I've just brought on a coach, so he's given me a whole heap of daily tasks I need to do. So generally I'll spend some time first thing in the morning, knock out like biggest piece of work and then I'll kind of go through all those little tasks that my coach has given me and then in the afternoon I'll start kind of reviewing the next matter that comes on board. So that way when I get to the next day and I've got those fresh eyes and I'm kind of rebooted as it were, I can kind of just smash it out. So I found that's probably the biggest thing because especially with what we do, a lot of people try to rush through it and get the work out and get paid and get that quick turnaround. Whereas a lot of people will prefer taking that extra bit of time, getting it right the first time and then having a high quality of service.
[00:11:13] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That is important.
[00:11:15] Speaker B: You found slightly digressing from this conversation to something completely different. You know, obviously there's certain professions that have a certain stigma about them.
Being that some professions are considered to be, you know, salsy, or there might be some issues with trust and so forth. Being in the business world, you know, marketing, real estate, somewhat legal, there's a few different professions that have that sort of stigma about them. Have you found that in the, the line of field that you're working in that you come up against people with trust issues and things like that?
[00:11:53] Speaker D: Oh, absolutely. And when I first started my business, that's the one thing I said. I was like, I don't want to be salesy. But now here I am like six, seven months later being like, well, I need to sell it because no one else can sell the business. But yeah, especially with disputes, a Lot of people come to us because they are in an emotional state. They've had an issue, it's gone wrong, or they've had some sort of agreement, it's gone wrong. And they could be dealing with hundred thousands of dollars dispute or $1,000 dispute. Realistically, it's the money's irrespective, it's actually how they're feeling. So when we kind of have that initial consultation, we try to break it down, be like we understand the situation better than pretty much most people because we see it on the databases how these disputes can actually affect people. So trying to have that bit of empathy and sympathy for the clients to understand where they're actually coming from. And when you do that as well, it also allows us to kind of get to the heart of the problem. Because for most of these bigger businesses that are, are chasing hundreds of thousands of dollars of small debts or whatever it is, half the time it's not actually about that issue, it's about some other personal issue that they've got with the person. So being able to kind of empathize with the client and actually be approachful and allow them to open themselves up, we can actually get to the real issue a lot quicker and save them a lot of costs in going to court sometimes over just trivial stuff.
[00:13:16] Speaker B: Interesting. Have you found being though in that environment and obviously you are dealing with people's emotions and probably been some tarnished relationships with your clients that they've had with whatever dispute they're going with through. Have you found any particular case studies that have been like really full on, like just like, wow, I know, I don't want to breach confidentiality here, but you know, specific example of something that's been like a major case for you that you've helped someone and it's, and it's been, you know, quite a profound journey for them and they've broke through it or they've come through on the other side in a positive way?
[00:13:55] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah. So one of the main ones I like to refer to is a business that I was kind of helping since we commenced. They were kind of semi friends or we were kind of mates. So he was obviously supportive of coming up with a new business because his business kind of needed a lot of work to get it running a bit better, minimize disputes and debtors and stuff like that. So essentially we did probably a month or two worth of work of clearing out, chasing debts, clearing new contracts, all that sort of thing, to the point where he rang me in December and said, I've literally Got no debtors or disputes and because they've got no disputes and no debtors and everyone's kind of paying on time, they got good cash flow going. They've actually just opened up a kind of secondary business that kind of correlates with their main business. So they're really looking to scale really aggressively and that's what I love. I love being able to see businesses reach, or even just clients in general reach their full potential when they don't have to deal with all the legal rubbish. They can go, here's, here's the issue, you deal with it. I'm going to focus on the business.
[00:14:57] Speaker B: That's fantastic mate, that's fantastic. I'm sure you would have seen in your. So you've been, you've been a lawyer for how many years now, Damon?
[00:15:05] Speaker D: Coming up to my fifth year but it been in the legal industry for probably over a decade now.
[00:15:10] Speaker B: Yeah. So you would have seen your fair share of cases no doubt. I could imagine.
[00:15:14] Speaker D: Oh absolutely. It was, yeah, very eye opening at a young age to see criminal cases. So these, these kind of civil and commercial disputes aren't quite as enticing or interesting as those, but definitely keep my day today. Very interesting.
[00:15:29] Speaker B: Yeah, it's interesting. I mean I, I could just share a little one with, with you as well. I. My mum had a car accident about two years ago just after my dad passed away and it was not her fault. Anyway, we engaged with a lawyer based on the Suno coast. Won't mention their names but the whole process was absolutely eye openening and in quite. It was amazing actually. They were very, very good and up until then I, I suppose I didn't really understand the true value of a lawyer because like many other people there's a lot of trust issues there and based on what you see in media and what society says, you can sort of fall into that trap and, and I did as well. But I have to say it was a profound lesson in learning for me to go through that process, helping my mother achieve what she wanted to achieve because of what happened to her with a car accident.
And anyway, we had a very positive outcome at the latter part of last year and it was, it was quite a journey, a lot of work involved. But you know, I guess what I'm saying is my respect for the legal industry has really gone up in many ways and I can see that, you know, it helps a lot of people and I think people just don't underestimate the value of what having a legal team can actually do for Them, especially in today's society with everything that's going on. So, yeah. Have you found.
Probably, I don't want to go back to my same question again, but have you found people that come to you like, look, I just need to help. Like, how? I guess the question is, how do they. How do you help them through that journey? Walk us through the process so you can. So people can listening in, know exactly what Damon can do and how does he work?
[00:17:08] Speaker D: Yeah, Yep. Absolutely. And, you know, obviously, I'm happy to hear that you've had a good outcome with your mother's incidents. That's always good to hear. And you're right. And unfortunately, it's like most professions, that the minority kind of ruins it for the majority. Because there is, as bad as it sounds, still some people out there that are in it for the dollar, not the result or the outcome for their clients, which is unfortunate because when clients come to us, then they're on the back foot. They've got those trust issues, and it makes it a bit more harder to kind of sell them that, you know, I'm not in it for. You know, obviously every business is in it to make it for the money, but I want to get you the outcome that you deserve.
[00:17:46] Speaker B: Absolutely.
[00:17:47] Speaker D: So the way we kind of operate is I'm big on providing value initially, so we have a kind of bit of a free consultation. We sit down and go, all right, well, just tell me your issue, explain a bit about it, and we'll work out if there is actually even something we can do for you. If so, then we kind of give you a plan forward.
In addition to that as well, we also have a free litigation guide which gives 15, 16 pages of information that if you are going to engage a lawyer, that you need to be aware of, because there's key terms that you may not be aware of, there's processes, risk, all that sort of stuff. So we try to give you that at the start, so that way you're on the front foot. So if we mention anything about a claim or a counterclaim, you go, oh, yeah, I remember that. I've read it in the guide. So we're really big on value, and I've actually just created a business checklist as well that I've been trying to send around to a few people.
From there. It just really depends on what work we're needing from us. But our goal is to, if there is a dispute, get it resolved as quickly as possible. So, for instance, we've had one reach out yesterday, or, sorry, last week that it's just come back today. The other party's accepted our offer to settle. So the client was pretty happy with that because she got some money back to pay our fees as well as a bit of money to pay the new contractor that they've now got to engage.
[00:19:02] Speaker C: Yeah, I really, you know, I love that approach. You know, leading with value shows the importance of connection and the empathy that you obviously have there for the people that you work with. I'm wondering, you mentioned before we, before we started recording in regards to doing Muay Thai, is there any connection there with that and business? Like, you know, would you say any lessons or any, I guess, synergy? Obviously being in law would be challenging. Is there any kind of connection there with those two things?
[00:19:32] Speaker D: Not that I'm necessarily aware of, but in that sense, I feel any combat sport is exceptional for your mental health. And I say this to people all the time, that getting punched first, getting punched in the head or getting kicked in the head first thing in the morning, the rest of your day is a breeze.
It's all smooth sailing from there because the worst possible outcome that you generally think of is getting smacked in the face and you've just gone out and done that on purpose. Really? How hard could someone sending you an aggressive email really be?
[00:20:01] Speaker B: That's awesome.
[00:20:02] Speaker D: So I've tried to push a few friends into, you know, Muay Thai combat sports. I've actually sprained me MCL at the end of last year, so I'm trying to slightly wiggle my way back into it, but it's just waiting on time, to be honest.
[00:20:15] Speaker B: Great, man, that's really good. And have you found, just on that same topic you found with Mutai, like, what are. Where are you at in your Muay Thai journey or your. Your martial arts journey at the.
[00:20:28] Speaker D: I'd been training for about a year or so.
[00:20:30] Speaker B: Awesome.
[00:20:30] Speaker D: And I just cranked it up to train Monday to Friday every morning with the hopes to eventually look to do like my first exhibition once I actually really got into it properly.
But unfortunately, yeah, I got put on the back burner with the MCL spraying and with the business as well, which I'm not necessarily too mad about because obviously it's better not to be smacked in the face so I can actually read stuff still.
But yeah, I'd love to go back at some point and at least jump in the ring and give it a crack because I feel like there's so many things in life that you miss out on the opportunity to do once you get a bit older. So something, yeah, I would really like to do before it gets too late.
[00:21:08] Speaker B: That's great. That's great. And you mentioned you got a young family as well, Damon.
[00:21:12] Speaker D: Yeah, I got a young boy named Darcy who's just turned three in March and another little boy on the way in, end of April, early May, depending on how quick he wants to get here.
[00:21:22] Speaker B: Yeah, you got your hands full, buddy.
[00:21:25] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah, it's.
Darcy's the old one, usually pretty good during the day. It's only seems to be when I'm on phone calls or on meetings that he wants to come in for a visit.
[00:21:34] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah.
That's awesome. Is there any specific insights for young lawyers that you can personally recommend or vouch for that can help them in their journey becoming a lawyer? Any wisdom or insights that can help them?
[00:21:49] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So I think the biggest thing is spending some time to learn sales, as odd as it sounds, is that when you're pushing for partnership or director of a firm or even looking to go out on your own, understanding how that whole client acquisition process will make the world of difference, if you're able to understand sales and actually bring in a whole heap of clients yourself to the firm, then they're obviously going to point your partner or, you know, similarly, if you go on your own, being able to actually acquire your own clients is, you know, going to kickstart your business really well. So just spending some time outside your regular 9 to 5 of spending an hour or so a day just understanding the sales process because it's something I really didn't know a lot about when I first started my journey. I kind of jumped in head first and was just more hoping on referrals. And now the more time I've spent on reading books, watching YouTube, paying coaches to actually teach me the sales more, I realize that I had a really empty cup and there was a lot to learn.
That's.
[00:22:46] Speaker B: That's business for you, mate.
[00:22:48] Speaker D: Yeah, yeah, exactly right, yeah.
[00:22:51] Speaker B: And in regards to Odyssey Legal, the business that you're growing, what. What's the next for. What's the plan for them to say the next five years, what's your hopes and dreams there?
[00:22:59] Speaker D: Take over Queensland.
So I want to be a pretty much a whole completely online firm. If, if I do reach the stage where I want to go past the soul and get some employees, I want it to be all, you know, work from home or, you know, if they want to go to an office space, we can rent out a room. But I want to be able spread throughout Queensland. So if I need to hire a lawyer up in Cairns. I can just hire them. They can work from home. If I want to have someone in Gold coast or Brisbane, same thing. Rather than being just this old traditional set in stone office that everyone's going to come to. And I can only service this really one area really well. Whereas if I do it the other way, I can spread throughout Queensland quite effectively.
[00:23:37] Speaker B: That's great, man. That's great. Well, that's, I guess the final question for us. Is there anything you want to share, any. Anything additional that you feel is relevant in this conversation you'd love to share with the audience?
[00:23:48] Speaker C: Where can, where can people reach out to you, Damon?
[00:23:50] Speaker B: Well, there you go.
[00:23:51] Speaker D: I'm, yeah, pretty active on pretty much everything. I've been trying to smash Odyssey Legal on Instagram to grow it quite quickly. Odyssey League on Instagram, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn or you can find me, Damon laughing on pretty much everything as well.
If they want to jump onto the website, they can email at any stage as to, I guess, final word of wisdom. Yeah, just do it. You know, the next five years are going to pass either way. You may as well do it doing something you love or that you're passionate about or that you find joy in rather than working for someone else and making their dreams come true.
[00:24:23] Speaker B: It's fantastic. Well, guys, you heard directly from, from Damon there. If you want to reach out to Damon, you can head to his website, Odysseylegal.com or you can check him out on Instagram and Facebook. We're happy to share the, the links in his profile as you can read and listen to this information.
But mate, I just want to say thank you for being here, Damon. Really appreciate your time and obviously sharing your, your wisdom and, and congrats on growing your business thus far. Really excited to see how you transform the business in the next few years.
[00:24:53] Speaker D: Thanks, mate. And I really appreciate you guys having me on. It's been fun and always love sharing my story.
[00:24:59] Speaker B: Absolutely. Well, you heard it from Daven, guys, thank you so much for being here. And if you are interested or you need help with your marketing efforts, you've got a problem with communication or you feel like you're not acquiring the, the leads and the sales that you're hoping for in your business, you can head to thomascreative.com boardroom where we offer businesses the opportunity to sit with them, unpack their business and create a strategy tailored to you and helping you grow and scale your brand. That's Thomas creative.com boardroom until next time. Thank you again and we look forward to seeing you all very soon. Cheers.
[00:25:35] Speaker D: Thanks everyone.
[00:25:40] Speaker A: You've been listening to the Brand Alchemy podcast with your hosts Jared Asher and Jared Break. For more information or to request your spot as a guest speaker, go to www.timelesscreative.com.au.
