Thats Audacious

EP 55 | Disrupting the Great Australian Dream with Award Winning Affordable Living

David Antonacci, Teeny Tiny Homes’ co-founder, identified an immense void in the severely unaffordable Australian housing sector. As a result of his desire to provide legitimate low-cost housing options, he realised that standard homes were becoming unobtainable for many people - even to himself when he was attempting to reduce his mortgage burden.

Beginning with one granny flat, which he built in his yard nearly eight and a half years ago, David began to question the conventional norms of the construction industry. 

David’s goal was not necessarily to make the most money possible; he was determined to demonstrate to the tiny homes sector that he could supply quality, certified houses at a cost that others thought was impossible. 

Rather than focusing solely on what he, as a homebuilder, wished to design and construct, he concentrated on those attributes which his customers desired - value, storage space, design details and quality. The focus on the buyer instead of the seller was the basis of his business philosophy: “How can we bless the customer?”

Leveraging Awards to Build Unshakeable Trust

From a single backyard build to a prominent manufacturer of 14-16 units each month in Queensland, David’s path to success has been swift. However, an important factor in this rapid development has been the intentional use of awards within the construction industry. 

David understood that when presenting a product that costs significantly less than the normal market rate - often by as much as 20% - the first response from would-be consumers is distrust. When a competitive product is cheaper the first thought is “what’s wrong with it?”

By intentionally seeking and receiving numerous prestigious awards, David was able to demonstrate to his consumers the quality and certification of his products. He described the ROI on his awards as "absurd", stating that they provided a sense of credibility that dispelled doubt and converted sceptics into customers. 

The trust generated by the awards has been crucial in providing David with the necessary financial resources to maintain a high-volume production facility. In addition to sales, the awards created a positive team culture that encouraged employees to know that they are a part of a successful and progressive“machine that is creating a positive social impact. 

A Portfolio of Excellence

Teeny Tiny Homes has secured several significant accolades that validate its commitment to leadership, innovation, and social responsibility:

• Gold Globee – Company Leadership of the Year & Environmental/Social Responsibility  
• Asia Pacific Stevie Bronze 2025 - Excellence in Social Impact Companies
• Titan Silver 2025 - Teeny Tiny Homes - Building A Brighter Future Teeny Tiny Homes Business Development Construction
• Australian Small Business Champion Awards 2025 Finalist
• Nobel Awards Silver 2025 - A Beacon Of Hope In The Housing Crisis - Company & Organization - Outstanding Social Enterprise
• 2025 ROAR Awards - Bronze for Best in Community Impact
• 2025 BX Awards Finalist
• 2025 GOLD Best Of Australia Award - Manufacturing
• 2025 GOLD International Stevie Award Company of the Year - Materials & Construction
• 2025 GOLD International Stevie Award Best Entrepreneur - Materials & Construction

Lessons in Leverage and Mindset

David’s entrepreneurial strategy is defined by the humble hustle and an enduring faith in the ability of a positive mindset. He emphasised that his success wasn’t simply based on building houses, but also on inspiring infectious energy throughout his organisation and company brand.

“Winning and showing that there is no faking it with awards, it has allowed me to take full advantage of them,” David explained. “In essence, the awards tell people to ‘trust me’. Without customers, there is no air or oxygen, and the awards give them the confidence to purchase.”

In retrospect, David advises entrepreneurs to focus on utilising leverage rather than the daily grind. "Invest in smart people to speed up progress. Trust more and utilise more leverage with your workforce so you can work ON your business versus working IN it." 

David is a shining example that if businesses can develop a growth mindset and a willingness to serve others, and continue to grow their mindset by attending seminars, reading books and self development, then any business will be capable of overcoming perceived barriers to eat the competition alive.

 

Contact To learn more about David Antonacci and Teeny Tiny Homes, please visit:

• Website: https://teenytinyhomes.com.au/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TeenyTinyHomes
• Instagram: @teenytinyhomes_aus

EP 54 | The Fusion of Corporate Acumen and Theatrical Artistry

Carmen Sederino is the visionary founder behind Illuminated Story, a specialist consultancy that helps founders and global leaders transform high-stakes presentations into unforgettable performances. Carmen’s journey is a unique tapestry woven from two distinct worlds: the disciplined, high-pressure environment of corporate leadership and the expressive, creative realm of the performing arts.

Despite being a painfully shy child, Carmen discovered her voice on stage at age five, eventually earning a Bachelor of Performing Arts with Honours. However, rather than immediately pursuing the limelight, she pivoted into the corporate sector. Over an 18-year career, she climbed the ladder to become a National Manager and Brand Manager for a major retailer, managing teams and overseeing international manufacturing partnerships. It was here that she identified a critical gap: intelligent, capable leaders who were terrified of public speaking.

Carmen realised that communication is a skill, not a birthright. Seven years ago, she left the safety of her corporate career to launch Illuminated Story. Her goal was to blend her theatrical training with her business expertise to help professionals stop hiding behind lecterns and start making an impact.

From Standard Keynote to Keynote Show

Through her work with Illuminated Story, Carmen has reshaped how leaders approach the stage. She moves her clients away from the ‘standard’ corporate keynote often characterised by boring slides and low energy, toward what she calls a keynote ‘show’. This approach integrates theatrical elements to create an experience that captivates the audience rather than just informing them.

A major outcome of Carmen’s coaching is the dismantling of the ‘fear myth’. She teaches that nerves are not an enemy to be eliminated but a source of energy to be harnessed. She emphasises that being a "performer" doesn't mean being inauthentic; it means adapting your natural behaviour to the size of the room. She uses the analogy of how one behaves in a quiet church versus a rowdy football match: both are authentically you, but the energy and vocal projection differ. By helping clients unlock energy for the stage, she enables them to deliver with the necessary passion and volume to command a room.

Key Insights for Aspiring Speakers

Carmen shared several actionable insights during the podcast for those looking to elevate their profile and stage presence:

• The Camera Never Lies: You cannot improve what you cannot see. Carmen insists that speakers film their talks. She advises watching the footage twice: once to "get over your ego" and the discomfort of seeing yourself, and a second time to critically analyse what landed with the audience and what fell flat.
• Relevance is King: Stories are powerful, but only if they serve the point. Carmen advises against telling a story just for the sake of it; it must bridge the gap between concepts or illustrate a specific lesson.
• The Myth of "No Stories": Many corporate professionals believe they have no stories to tell because they are data-driven. Carmen argues that everyone has stories - even an engineer rowing a boat can derive lessons on leadership and resilience. It is about mining life experiences for moments that resonate with the human condition.
• Sensory Storytelling: To truly engage an audience, speakers must use the five senses. Good storytelling puts the audience in the scene, making them feel the experience rather than just passively observing it.

Carmen’s philosophy is based on the belief that it is never too late to reinvent yourself or master a new skill. Her advice cuts through the noise of perfectionism and encourages leaders to embrace the learning process.

"If you're thinking, 'I don't know if I can do that,' my answer is yes, you absolutely can... instead of thinking 'I can't do that,' think 'I don't know how to do that yet.' This is a skill. It's not something you're born with."

"Life doesn't stop at 30. You don't need to have a cut-off to something that's a dream of yours. And sometimes you don't know how your dreams are going to show up. Mine has now manifested into this business where I get to use both the 18 years in corporate... and bring back the performance part of myself."

Contact

To learn more about how to illuminate your own story or to access Carmen’s masterclasses:

• Website: www.illuminatedstory.com.au

EP 53 | From Survival Mode to Standing Ovations: Nikki Langman’s Unbrickable™ Journey

Nikki Langman is not your typical leadership expert. Known as the insatiable agitator, she is a speaker, author, and emotional intelligence (EQ) specialist who challenges the status quo by compelling individuals to confront their greatest obstacles. Her journey into this field was deeply personal, born from a 30-year history with addiction and a quest to understand her own behaviours and reactions. In the late 90s, she discovered the emerging science of emotional intelligence and spent the next 25 years researching and teaching it in the corporate world.

Despite her success, Nikki initially kept her skills compartmentalised. She was a master practitioner in emotional intelligence and, separately, certified in the Lego Serious Play methodology - a science-backed approach using constructivist play to unlock innovation. It wasn't until a conversation with a speaker bureau leader, who suggested a merge of Nikki's EQ insight and the Lego Play(™) process. This was a moment Nikki describes as a combination of skills, becoming "the jam to my peanut butter," and the merging of these two worlds created the Unbricklable(™) approach..

Nikki has identified a gap in the mental health and well-being space, particularly within universities. Traditional talk therapy often struggles to engage young adults or those dealing with trauma, as they may lack the vocabulary to articulate their pain. Nikki’s goal was to launch Unbreakable(™) as a proprietary framework combining EQ competencies with the metaphorical language of Lego Play (™), to help people build their way out of survival mode and into a life of purpose. However, to penetrate the academic and corporate markets at scale, she needed to establish immediate credibility and prove that her method was far more than playing with children's toys.

Nikki’s audacious move to validate her concept began at the highest level: the Yale School of Medicine, the ‘Mecca’ of emotional intelligence. Launching her proof of concept there, she received a standing ovation, confirming that Unbreakable(™) was a viable and necessary tool for modern mental health.

To further cement this credibility and scale her business, Nikki strategically entered the Stevie Awards. She viewed this not as an exercise in ego, but as a critical business decision to speak the language that decision-makers understand. The application process itself proved to be an unexpected asset; it forced her to organise her intellectual property, media kit, and business plan into a cohesive narrative, something that had previously been scattered.

The results of becoming a multi-award winner have been transformative. Nikki reports that she now walks taller, and the wins have opened doors to new networks, including influential connections made during the awards ceremony in New York. The recognition has provided the leverage needed to approach universities and large organisations with confidence. Currently, she has interest from 87 schools in the United States alone and is moving toward a "train the trainer" model to scale her impact globally. By validating her innovative approach through awards, she has shifted the perception of her work from a novelty to a serious, award-winning mental health intervention.

Result

Nikki Langman’s innovative work was recognised with prestigious Silver Stevie Awards in the following categories:

• Maverick of the Year (Silver) – Recognising her ability to turn the status quo on its head.
• Most Resilient Female Leader (Silver) – Awarded in the category of Advertising, Business Services, Marketing, or PR.
• Startup of the Year (Silver) – Competing against major global entities like IBM.

Message from the Client

Nikki’s philosophy leads with action and resilience. She emphasises that waiting for perfection is a trap that holds leaders back.

"Stop waiting to feel ready because you never will. Courage is not a feeling. Don't wait for courage before you act. It's built from surviving your own failures."

Regarding her unique methodology, she explains how externalising trauma through Lego bricks facilitates healing:

"The bricks have the problem. The bricks are concerned about something... when you externalise it, you no longer hold the pain or the shame."

Her advice to aspiring award-winners and entrepreneurs is clear:

"Just say the thing, take the seat, build the thing anyway... Stop asking for permission from people who have never built anything worth talking about."

Contact

To learn more about Nikki Langman and the Unbreakable(™) program, or to inquire about her workshops and speaking engagements:

• Website: https://unbrickable.co/ 

Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikkilangman1/

EP 52 | Transforming Professional Connection Through Authentic Story Sharing

Nimarta Verma, the founder of Story Sharing, is an exceptional professional known for her unique methodology that helps clients articulate and share authentic stories to build trust and connection. With a background spanning a decade in leadership coaching and extensive experience in brand and marketing for major global brands, Nimarta brings a deep understanding of communication to her work.

The Need for Authentic Human Connection

Nimarta noticed a critical gap between the corporate focus on "personal brand", which often encourages a polished, impressive, but ultimately inauthentic presentation, and the genuine human need for connection. Her initial business successfully created and articulated stories for major brands, but she realised that this framework didn't translate authentically for individuals.

The motivation to pivot and develop her own methodology, 'Story Sharing,' emerged organically after a stranger, inspired by her personal podcast interview, asked for help sharing stories in the same way. The realisation that applying a brand framework to a human story results in a "cringe" and inauthentic experience was the catalyst for change.

This need for genuine sharing was amplified by Nimarta's own challenging personal experience. While running her business and raising a young child, she endured a period of profound grief, losing six family members in a short time. Instead of maintaining a façade of success, she chose to share her truth, which, contrary to her fears of losing clients, led to more profound trust and even new business.

Nimarta’s clients typically fall into two categories: corporate leaders who need to build trust and connection within their teams and for career progression, and entrepreneurs, particularly women, who know they need to share their story but often believe their lives are too "normal" or "boring" to have any stories worth telling. Her goal is to move them beyond the superficiality of traditional 'storytelling', which often focuses on sounding impressive or a 'happily ever after' narrative, to 'story sharing,' which views story as a service, a mirror for others to relate to, and a genuine contribution.

Nimarta’s work addresses the growing paradox of today's digital world: the saturation of AI-generated content is leading people to crave and seek out authentic, human connection, making authentic storytelling the "new coding".

Validation and Amplified Impact

The decision to enter the Stevie Awards was a major personal and professional breakthrough for Nimarta. She experienced the common internal struggle, questioning her worth and the validity of her recently pivoted business. Overcoming this "impostor syndrome" was the first victory, forcing her to stand by her own advice to her clients and demonstrate the courage of sharing her story.

Winning the awards was a significant validation that her work is needed in the world. It also helped to silence discouragement from people who believed it would take a very, very long time to establish her new methodology. The wins affirmed that her idea, though recently birthed, had merit and was significant in its own right.

Attending the Stevie Awards ceremony in New York, described as the "Oscars of the business award," provided a powerful experience, connecting her with magnificent people and remarkable international women. Winning alongside major international brands like TripAdvisor and IBM in her category cemented her confidence and provided tangible evidence that her business had a global impact.

Professionally, the win reinforced her absolute alignment with her purpose, a sense of conviction she had never felt before in her career. For clients, applying her StorySharing framework has led to dramatic increases in engagement, with one client doubling their best-ever impressions on a LinkedIn post. The engagement goes beyond mere numbers; comments show deep resonance, connection, and a feeling among readers that they are not going through this alone.

Result: Stevie Awards For Women In Business 2025

• Mentor or Coach of the Year – Business - BRONZE
• Female Thought Leader of The Year - Business Services - BRONZE

Lessons in Courage and Intuition

"I think a lot of people talk about authenticity. First of all, we've got to acknowledge that the way we've been taught to tell stories doesn't lend itself for that authenticity when it comes to our story."

"The breakthrough comes before that. The breakthrough is like me lying in bed at 2am thinking, 'Can I submit this award? Should I? Can I?' And everything in me going, 'No, who are you to be doing this?'"

"It pushed me to go, yep, I'm doing it. And then the courage it takes to message 30 past clients... and trusting that they're not going to come back and say, no, you were pretty horrible. Which didn't happen BTW."

"I have never felt more aligned with who I am and what I'm doing, and I would tell my old self, younger self to trust her intuition because that's what led me here."

More Info

To find out more about Nimarta Verma and the Story Sharing methodology, please visit:

• https://nimartaverma.com.au/storysharing-workshop/
• https://disruptor-brand.kit.com/leadwithtrust

EP 51 | Empowering Leaders to Build High-Performing Teams

Angie Dunn, the driving force behind Agile Performance, is a seasoned sales leader with two decades of experience in corporate and start-up environments. After a distinguished career spent building substantial sales revenue for other businesses, Angie made a pivotal decision to focus on her own entrepreneurial dreams.

Her initial business venture centred on management and sales training, a natural fit given her background. However, over four years, Angie observed that her most significant and consistent impact was not on the business structure itself, but on the performance mindset of the individuals she coached - be they salespeople, business owners, or managers. She recognised that regardless of how talented a team was, a business would always hit a ceiling if the leader lacked the ability to build and sustain a high-performance culture and engage their people. This insight led to the evolution of her company from Agile Sales and Management to the newly focused Agile Performance.

Angie's focus is specifically on developing high-performing female emerging leaders, driven by the belief that there are not enough of them and that high-achieving women are pretty hard on themselves. Her overarching goal is to equip these leaders with the essential skills to manage themselves and their teams, creating highly engaged, high-performing environments.

Seeking external recognition to validate the vital work she was doing, Angie made the bold decision to enter the Stevie Awards. While the decision initially brought a mix of self-doubt and fear - a mental experience she notes is common when stepping into a new stage of a personal journey - the outcome was profoundly validating.

Winning a Stevie Award created a crucial proof point that the work Agile Performance is doing to support female leaders is both recognised and important. This external validation helped to quiet the imposter syndrome that even high-level executives experience, a phenomenon she addresses within her program.

The judges' comments were also invaluable, highlighting the importance placed on women helping women grow. This feedback affirmed that her focus aligns with globally recognised values in leadership development.

The experience of applying for the award and the subsequent win reinforced one of her key business philosophies: "You can't sell a secret". After attending a leveraging workshop held by The Audacious Agency, Angie realised she needed to share her achievement more broadly, understanding that she must be her own best supporter to grow her profile. The award win became a powerful tool to amplify her voice, build credibility, and inspire action in others, aligning perfectly with her mission to empower leaders.

Result

• Bronze 2025 Stevie Award For Women In Business - Achievement in Developing and Promoting Women - Advertising, Business Services, Marketing & PR - for the Agile Performance Leadership Blueprint Program.

Message from the Client

Angie's insights, honed by years in high-stakes roles and now applied to coaching, offer powerful lessons for leaders:

"If you engage a great team, you keep them engaged. You'll tap into that top piece of high performance."

"Help them doesn't mean do it for them. Help them means show them and then create the space for them to."

"The act of applying for the award was something I had to push myself to do. And the validation of it coming back has... it has it's silenced them now."

"Continue believing that anything is possible and really let go of the limiting beliefs of what success has to look like... I actually haven't had to sacrifice anything to be successful. It's 100% possible, which is very, very liberating."

Angie encourages leaders to get crystal clear on what success looks like for their team, writing it down for both themselves and their people, as a lack of clarity is one of the most common problems in business. She also advises that aiming for "80% as well as you would do is actually enough" to maintain momentum, provided there is a constant feedback loop.

Contact

To find out more about Angie Dunn and Agile Performance:

• Website: https://agileperformance.ltd/
• Program: https://join.agileperformance.au/