Dream Maker Toff West - No experience necessary!

🎙️ NO experience necessary! 

Join us for a surprisingly soul-stirring conversation with Toff West, the man behind Home Grain Bakery and Entrepreneurs Unplugged. In this episode, Toff shares profound insights gathered over 12 1/2 years of bakery growth, emphasising the importance of serving one's community authentically and remaining flexible in business endeavours. No experience necessary —just a willingness to learn and adapt bit by bit. 

Find out how Toff's journey to find inner happiness changed everything for him, both personally and in business. He talks about the simple things like being present, showing love without conditions, and sticking to the truth. By opening up to his emotions, he saw big shifts in his relationships and how he runs his business.

Discover the backstory of Entrepreneurs Unplugged and Toff's drive to motivate others to seize adventure, resilience, authenticity, and pursue a life they truly adore. 

Tune in for actionable advice on overcoming challenges, making a way through when it gets hairy, and embodying tenacity as the creators and problem solvers that we are.

Don't miss this inspiring journey of growth, connection, and making a way forward. #DreamMakersPodcast #BakeItTillYouMakeIt 🌟

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Transcript

Claire Byrt: 1:07

Welcome everybody to another episode of the Dream Makers podcast. I'm super jazzed to have Toff West here. Welcome Toff. How are you doing? Very well, very

Toff West: 1:17

well. Thanks for having

Claire Byrt: 1:18

me. I'm super pumped. This is your very first podcast recording.

Toff West: 1:23

This is, yes. How are you feeling about it? I feel a little bit excited, a little bit nervous. Yeah. I think a lot of those, the same feelings, you know, for both of those sides of that coin. But yeah. I'm excited. I, I'm, I don't know where we're going to go. I don't know yeah, where this is going to lead, but yeah, I trust you. And I think I think we're in for a good little chat. Yeah, we

Claire Byrt: 1:46

are. And this is going to be one of a couple of chats. So we sent a few text messages over the weekend. And one of the biggest things that I want to do in these podcasts episodes with Toff is talk about his new venture Entrepreneurs Unplugged. And so I've been lucky enough to go to some of those events. I'm very much looking forward to going to the ones that are coming up in the future. So we decided that we would just create like a set of podcasts. So we're going to do a couple of episodes, kind of one each month for a little while, and just really be in that process of acknowledging and celebrating what it is that you're creating. So this is one of a few podcasts. We haven't like locked in a number yet, but you know, if you love this conversation and you want to hear more from Toff, then know that there is more to come. And on that note. I know that I really want to dive into entrepreneurs unplugged, but I would feel really remiss of me to not go back a little bit and reflect upon where you have come from, because this is a, this week when we're recording the podcast, I think is a really pivotal time in your life, in your business, for your family. And I have known Toff for a number of years, I can't remember the number, but he and his partner Kara, you guys together bought the Aldinga General Store and turned it into Homegrown Bakery, which for anyone, wherever you are listening, is a local but amazing bakery. coffee place, community hub in the area that I live in. And how many years, how many years did you have the bakery for?

Toff West: 3:22

So we opened that in December 2011. So it's about 12 and a half years we've been running it. But really, like realistically, the idea You know, the idea was coming about, about this time, 13 years ago.

Claire Byrt: 3:38

It's a bit like a baby being born, isn't it? Because when you say 12 years, my son Eddie is about to be 12. And I'm like, his entire life is when you ideated and decided and then locked in the decision and created the first iteration of the bakery. And now 12 years later, you have this fully fledged business that you sold to somebody else.

Toff West: 4:03

That's right. And, and as was my son. So we got the keys to the bakery the day before James was born and, and embarked on this whole journey of, of building something from nothing, creating, you know, off the back of a, Hey, we've got a vision for how cool this town could be, how like people need a place to come together. We want to have Yeah, something focused around food, something focused around coffee really bringing the community together. And ultimately we coined on this idea that the town needed a good bakery, there wasn't one nearby. And not that we were bakers, we had no experience in bakery at that point either. So I mean, look out world, now I'm on a podcast, maybe I'll become a podcast expert now. But yeah, we. We saw a need and we went about filling it, I guess, and it was the right thing at the right time in the right place. And 12 and a half years later three kids later and a whole journey of building that business up to five stores at one point. And then all the way back down to one store. We have said farewell to that yesterday. That was our official. Official handover was yesterday. So how's

Claire Byrt: 5:25

this for timing to be stepping into a new realm and just be really celebrating that whole adventure? And I'm going to call it an adventure. I mean, that is so much of your purpose in the world is to bring adventure to people's lives and help people live, live the life they love. But to take this moment to really celebrate the adventure that was, and I just want to say from a personal perspective. I remember when the bakery wasn't there, and then I remember when the bakery was there, and so many then iterations and experiences since then over the years, but when I had, you know, A new baby, I had two kids and bringing myself out of my home and coming to the bakery was life changing for me and it really did create that sense of connection and community and those little moments of coming to get your coffee or coming to get your croissant or coming to get your chicken pie, which is, P. S. the chicken pie there is remarkable They, there's so much more than a moment to get coffee. It was, it's totally about connection. So I just want to say thank you for that from a personal perspective as well. There might be moments when maybe the bakery saved me in a way. Wow.

Toff West: 6:43

Yeah. Well, you're welcome. I suppose. Thank you for the beautiful feedback and yeah, look, we've had, we've had lots of stories like that over the years of just how, how like something so simple as a pie and a coffee has really. Yeah, brought people together, given people a place of belonging, given them. Yeah. So it's been a journey. It's been an awesome chapter. Yeah,

Claire Byrt: 7:05

no doubt. And before we kind of move into the new chapter the first thing I want to say is I love, I love when you said I came into the bakery and neither of us were bakers is kind of like no experience necessary. That's a big takeaway for me from this conversation already. And it kind of gives so much permission for where you're at and for where everyone's at in terms of like, where am I going to next? And we get to be the creator of that. So thank you already. Any words you want to say on that? And then I want to hear from you, and this might feel big, but we've reflected and you shared so beautifully a little bit about your, the 12 years in but if you Could bring it down to, or just trust in this moment three kind of the biggest lessons in terms of. growth and business that have come that you could share from that just casual 12 years into three lessons. Top. What do you got

Toff West: 8:05

for us? All right. So the first thing, the first thing when you were just speaking into like, like that inspiration to not know anything about something, but have a, you know, have a desire to get into it like that, just, The first thing that came up for me was like, fake it till you make it, you know, like, and I always say like, bake it till you make it now, it's like, I didn't know anything about bakery, but the town needed a good bakery and that on that note, I kind of feel, and maybe this is one of the learnings from, from the business, but I think, I think a lot of people have great business ideas. But either they are so fixated on the idea that they want to do and they aren't necessarily willing to go where the market is like, like, in our case, it was a bakery. Like, if we had been fixated on a bakery and the town didn't need another bakery, we would have been silly to have put another bakery there. Or in our case, like if, if you're not willing to go, if you're not, if you're, if you're not fixated on the thing that you need to do. And go and find those people and be willing to move to them or for them or, or be on the platform that they're on, whether that's, you know, online now then look around you and, and see what people need. Like, like, what is it that, what is it that, Is needed in your area, what is it that's needed in your community, in your sphere. And create that, you know, and, and I, you know, I wouldn't have said I had a love of baking or anything like that, but certainly I got into it and I really enjoyed the journey. So Yeah, maybe that's one of the first, the first takeaways, another takeaway. It's a

Claire Byrt: 9:49

solid start. It's a solid start. I mean, any person in business, you know, the nutshell is solve a problem, provide a solution create, create a change. Solve a problem for a profit, you know, in the nutshell, bring it down into that. And I hear you that we can't, we all can have ideation about the things that we'd love to do, and then how do we marry that up with, here's a community of people who actually need, like meeting a need. Yeah, beautiful. As opposed to just doing the thing that you love and, you know. Well, so that's, you know. Build it and they will come vibe kind of thing.

Toff West: 10:28

And there is merit, there is merit in build it and they will come, you know, like, but it's, I think that one of the successes of Homegrain was that there was a need for that in that community and we just created it. You know, we did build it and they came, but I think there was. Perhaps, you know, a market there already that was. Ready to be tapped into.

Claire Byrt: 10:53

Hungry for it. Definitely. Yeah. So

Toff West: 10:56

that made it easy. That made our job easy, you know, and then iterate, get feedback, try things. If they work, keep doing them. If they don't, change it, you know, try not to be too hung up on your own. Ego and your own version of what something has to look like, or what something has to taste like in our case, or what, you know, the product should look like this, or it should do that, but actually get the real feedback and or there's another maybe I've got so many takeaways, but one, one that really was probably the, the, one of the transformational kind of moments in my journey in, in, Building the bakery business was when I signed up for a, a growth program. It was with UniSA and it was like, it was a 10, 000 investment for a nine month kind of series of three workshops where I went with my leadership team with the idea that they were going to teach us how to grow our business and scale it. And one of. My biggest takeaways from that experience and that investment was that I didn't want to scale my business. But, the quote that kind of sticks with me or the, I guess the, the saying that one of our instructors, one of our mentors, or they were kind of called growth experts. I think in the program, they were people who had built, built big businesses. And he, he sort of started his speech with like, is your baby ugly? And, and he's like, we've got such a bias that we look at our own businesses and we see how great they are and we think they're amazing. But if you break it down and look at. The raw data, like what's your profit and loss state? What's your asset base? What's your cashflow situation? Is it as attractive as you are making it out to be, or is your baby actually ugly? And it was like, I was looking at my baby and I was saying how, how amazing it was and talking up all the great things and just, just sort of neglecting to mention like all of the shitty things and, and you know, our financial situation or whatever. And it was like, holy shit, like this business actually. You know, while I think I'm doing amazing and we've got five stores and 70 staff and turning over five million dollars a year. It's like, yeah, but how much are you keeping? Like, how sustainable is it? How? So that was, that was a big takeaway. And turning point for me too, because from that point on, it was really about, okay, well, what, what do I want in my life and then how, how is this business going to support that?

Claire Byrt: 13:39

Yeah, I love that. One of the things, obviously, in the bakery, in Beautiful Colour, it says, hope I've got this right, live the life you love. And that is, that is definitely your motto. And it's a huge part behind entrepreneurs unplug, which is your new baby, your new baby new baby business. And. Yeah, one of the questions I was thinking about this morning was where was the moment like where was the turning point when you were in bakery world and deciding, starting to plant seeds of something, something new. So was it this growth course that you did?

Toff West: 14:20

Good question. I think, so when we started the bakery, I always said, you know, if I'm still doing this in 10 years time, get me out. I want it. I don't want to be just doing the same thing forever. So that was probably already a seed that was planted even before we began. Yeah. But I would say Like in amongst all of the, the growth and the wanting to do more and that the opportunities, like the opportunities just keep coming. And that's, that's another lesson I've learned, I guess, in my life is that the opportunities aren't going to stop coming. I need to decide what is the right thing to do. What's the difference between a great opportunity and a, and a, I have to do this, you know, opportunity like, like, what is it? What is it? Something that I just cannot not do because, and if I guess it's not this, I guess what I'm saying is it's not like between choosing between a shit, a shit opportunity and a great one, it's like great one, great one, great one, great one, great one, great one, great one, that thing. I can't not do, like I don't want to get through this life not having done that and I need to be able to say no to all of those great things in order to have space when, when that one presents. Yeah. So that's, that was a learning and I kind of learned that the hard way, I think, because I had said yes to, you know, So many of the great things, great opportunities and, and got to this point where had so many balls in the air, didn't actually know where they all were, wasn't keeping track of them all. And, you know, cracks started to form. And that was, you know, financially within the business that was like with my relationship at home, you know, my relationship with the kids. And you know, I, I, I was just. Not happy, you know, I, I, I said I on the surface level had so many of the things that, you know, our culture aspires to so many things that as a man, you know, building a business, building a family, you know, Symbols of wealth, symbols of power, symbols of stature and all, all of that, but I wasn't happy. And that spiral just kind of kept going down and down and down and getting worse and worse and worse. And I was not fun to be around. I was, I was miserable as a human. So it wasn't really just a business decision. It was personal decision. And that was the turning point for me in terms of when I finally one day and through the way that the universe works at that time, I was never on Facebook. I was never on social media. But a connection of mine posted about a conference in Adelaide. Essentially saying, you know, have you lost your spark? Are you wanting more out of life? Do you, you know, not know what you're doing, where you're going? All of those kind of things. And I was like, yes, yes, yes. And I was like, sign me up. And that then was I guess the beginning of my more personal kind of spiritual journey almost into well who who do I want to be as a person who how do I want to live this life and why am I doing all of these things in my business if they aren't actually aligned with who I want to be.

Claire Byrt: 18:07

Yeah do you feel like that's been a couple of years in the Making unfolding. I don't remember when you said like you did this program and did. Yeah.

Toff West: 18:18

Okay. That's been like the last five or six years.

Claire Byrt: 18:22

Yeah. And, and would you say you feel more like grounded peace and happiness in yourself now than you did then?

Toff West: 18:31

100%. Yeah. And it's, it's not, I, if I don't really know how to explain it, but the, the, the easiest way to explain it would be to say, Previously, I was seeking happiness externally, so I was trying to find happiness in doing things, achieving things, owning things so that was an external happiness that I was seeking, and I was kind of happy, I was happy, but it wasn't eternal. It wasn't what I now consider to be happy, like, like that actual feeling of contentedness, like contentment, being at peace with where I'm at in any given moment. And so, yeah, so my definition of happiness now is very different. How I experience emotions is different. I didn't even, you know, you'd be, you'd be on point if you'd have said previously that, you know, Toff's like a robot, you know, he just doesn't feel any emotions. And, and that's kind of how I operated. Like I, I cared about people, but I didn't feel. The feelings associated with that and as a result, what I've come to learn now is that because I wasn't willing to feel the sadness or feel the anger or feel some of the uncomfortable emotions, I was also suppressing true joy and, you know, that true kind of love.

Claire Byrt: 20:09

I'm so grateful for everything that you're sharing. I dived

Toff West: 20:13

a long way from

Claire Byrt: 20:14

We'll get there. We'll get, we'll get there. It's all, it's all part of it. But the, your, what would now just, what comes from you now when I say, what's your definition of happiness now?

Toff West: 20:27

So my definition of happiness is being, being present with what is. Yeah. So I guess what, what that means for me is I am happiest when I am actually just noticing that I am a hundred percent present with where I am. Mm-Hmm. And that could be really like a shit ugly situation. You know? It could be really messy or like, but it's like, oh, yeah, I'm here and I'm feeling that and yeah, so it's, it's almost like a, what I'm kind of pursuing is like this idea of unconditional love and that's what's kind of fascinates or that's what intrigues me about, you know, being a human and existing and yeah. What, what would it be to, to love unconditionally? And the point I'm up to in that journey or in, in that seeking of understanding is that love is truth. So, so being a hundred percent honest with myself in any given moment, in every moment. And then in order, you know, to have that truth, it's just presence. It's just literally just being, being there Yeah, and a lot of spiritual teachers sort of talk about that and you've got like, you know, Eckhart Tolle and power of now kind of vibe. But yeah, it's really, for me, happiness is Being in the moment and being like, being aware that I'm in the moment. Yeah. Does that make sense? Like it's totally, it's like I'm on the dance

Claire Byrt: 22:23

floor that I am aware of and being in this moment. And I feel, I, you know, I've loved everything that you said. And for me that, that sense of unconditional love, which I'm assuming that, I mean, that starts first with yourself. To then share, like have unconditional love in, in your relationships and experiences and as your life. It's almost unconditional life. Unconditional love of your life as it's unfolding as well in the moment. And that love is truth. Right. And so the truth is not always comfortable. Truth is often confronting and upsetting to you or other people or it's, yeah, but it does bring a different sense of grounded. It, my experience on that is kind of like grounded peace and presence in the unfolding, which is certainly not always comfortable, but it's as, it feels very, very truthful. It feels very, very as honest as, as, as, as it can be, or as it can get in that moment. Yeah. I do, I have another question around this and then we'll promise we'll slip, you know, slipstream. It's, this is all part of it. Do you know what I mean? You can't get to creating and living the life that you love and the business you love and being an adventure if you're If you're not connected to your truth and what is it you desire and, and, and, and I'm having that sense of unconditional love for yourself for what's happening around you as well. Journey, I don't, I don't know the right words to say this or just bear with me being a man, I'm just trying to reflect back what you said, but to be a person that didn't feel or experience. emotion or didn't want to you said some words like, that you became willing to feel the feelings. My question to you, asking for a friend, where along the line, like what was it in your life? What did you hear? What did you learn? What truth did you understand that shifted you from not willing to be feel and acknowledge your feelings and experience all the highs and all the lows to open your heart or open your body or open your being to being willing to start to feel the feelings.

Toff West: 24:41

Does that make sense? Yeah, cool. Yep. Yep.

Claire Byrt: 24:44

Thank you for bearing with me through that. Well done.

Toff West: 24:46

So one thing that I kind of think of when you ask this question is the way in which, at least I've experienced and it's been relayed to me as a, as a model, you know, like the universe will constantly give you opportunities to learn the lessons you need to learn. And, you know, it will come first with a feather and it will tickle you with the feather saying, Hey, here's, here's a lesson you need to learn. You can either, either take that on board or you can ignore it, you know, and if, but if you ignore the feather, then it might come back with a stick and it'd be like, Hey, you know, here's this lesson you need to learn. But if you ignore the stick, well, then it'll come back with like a brick and it'd be like,

Claire Byrt: 25:36

Take you out like a road truck.

Toff West: 25:38

Yeah. Yeah. So like for me, my brick was the like complete breakdown of a really close friendship. So, so I had one of my best friends or my best friend at the time. Who through a series of my actions got very, very angry with me and gave me a lot of feedback. Not in a, not in a like gift wrapped present, here you go, my friend, I am, I'm doing this to help you. It was like from a place of his pain but it was nonetheless feedback and it was feedback from years of. him noticing me in my life, in my relationships with my kids, with my, with my parents, with, you know, particularly with my dad, who I, I for most of my life had no relationship with. And that was like brutal, a brutal kind of, way to see that about myself, but it really like, it was enough of, of a jolt to knock me out of my, like knock me off my little pedestal where I'd put myself and, you know, I'm in control of my whole world around me. And, and I'm, you know, the perfect human and I get everything right. And if anything goes wrong, that's because someone else made it go wrong. And it was like, holy shit, like Ashley. I'm the arsehole here, like I'm, I'm the one that's created this pain. And so then it was, I felt a lot of that pain. And yeah, maybe then just had enough of an awareness to question, you know, and go, Oh, well, shit. Like if, if, If I can do this and, and affect such a close relationship in my life, what else am I doing? Like, what else am I doing? And then it was like, when I started looking for it, I could see it everywhere. It's like, holy shit, like, you know, what are you doing, Toff? Which I, you know, again, I think be careful what you look for, because, you know, you see what you look for if you look for evidence to support. you're doing things well, you'll find things that you're doing things well. If you look for evidence to support that you're not, you'll find that you're not. But this was a healthy kind of wake up call for me. And yeah, what that, what that opened up was like one of the, one of the particularly big ones for me was my relationship with my son, like with James. And given I didn't have a relationship with my dad for most of my life I started to realize that, you know, my dad was probably about my age or maybe a little bit older, but you know, wasn't going to know a whole lot more than what I knew. At the time, as a 30 year old, you know, as a 30 year old father I realized that, well shit, like when I was acting like that, like a little shit as a kid, and my dad was responding the same way I'm responding now, and I kind of just like, Push it away. Is that what I want? Like, do I want to have that relationship with my son? And then I didn't. And so it was really kind of a point of, well, I need to now decide how I want to be showing up as a dad. How do I want my relationship to be and what kind of a person do I need to be to do that? And that was probably one of the biggest, the biggest changes for me. It was, was being able to. like put down the fight with my son and just let, you know, let him be the kid and, and I, I be the grownup and, and started to really see and have reflected back at me or hang on a second, if you're losing your shit, that's not because the five year old has done something terrible to you. It's, it's because you're feeling angry or you're feeling sad or you're feeling these feelings. And if I just. And I did a bunch of reading, you know, like I learned a lot through, through books. And, but yeah, being able to take some of those learnings and see that, well, the way in which I experienced the world is a hundred percent up to me. And then slowly and, you know, with a lot of loving kindness to myself, teach myself how to do that, you know, teach myself how to feel anger without it projecting it onto someone else, how to feel sadness without, you know, making it about someone else fear, you know, these are all, they're all healthy emotions and there's so much in there to learn that Yeah, I think, I still think I've got so much to learn, I feel like I've maybe progressed, I used to call myself an emotional toddler, like I'm just at that toddler level of learning emotions, but I feel like maybe I'm more like an emotional teenager now. Oh, that's so cool, do you

Claire Byrt: 30:39

feel so proud of yourself? Like there's always a moment or many, many moments that we can be grateful for our past self for making that decision to read that book, to have a different kind of conversation, to just try even in the peak moment of meltdown or fight or fear that's coming through that we choose another thought or we choose another option or we try another way. Do you feel really proud of yourself? Oh,

Toff West: 31:05

she chair. Yeah, absolutely. One thing actually that came up for me last week with a client and I think it's relevant now, so I'm going to share it. But one of the things I learned and it's been magnificent in, well, for myself, but also like in my relationship with Kara is that emotions, feelings, last for a maximum of 90 seconds. So any, any feeling you are feeling, if you actually just feel it in your body and let it kind of transmute through your body, where am I feeling this? Like express it, let it move through you like a wave, you know, it's going to come up, it's going to crest, it's going to peak, it's going to be massive. And then it's just, you know, and there's retreats. If you, if you feel the feeling, it won't last more than 90 seconds.

Claire Byrt: 31:54

If you really

Toff West: 31:55

allow yourself to feel it. If you allow yourself to feel it and experience it.

Claire Byrt: 31:59

I'm taking like big breaths as you say this, because yeah, I, I, that, that's like golden information for us all. And also I just, I, I find a lot of the way I shift energy is I move around my house and, and when, when, when something is coming up, I'm like, I just start making noises or just start like, ah, like making these I don't know, noises. I don't know another way to describe it. Describe it, but energetically just kind of like something's coming up. I need to feel, I need to let it move through me now, because if I don't and I shove it down my, it's like my brain forgets what it might be and my body goes into a fear response and then it's like bing bong being like all the lights have gone off and I'm in, you know, a nervous system response versus I could have just let this go through. So yeah, I think it's wildly invaluable. Let's talk about Entrepreneurs Unplugged. First of all, thank you for everything that you have just shared. And just I, you know, one of the things I love about Entrepreneurs Unplugged is its connection. It's community. It's honesty. It's truth. It's where we are. You know, this is stuff I live and breathe by. It's like, how can we create community to support one another, to be brave, to do the things that we want to do in the world. And when I got the invitation to come and hang with you guys this year, we went kayaking one month and this, Last week, we went to tree climb, but they're just the activity part of the day, the adventure part of the day, but the whole thing's an adventure as far as I'm concerned and there's a real sense of authenticity and vulnerability of everybody who's there and hearing. From other people who were in business. So tell us about what entrepreneurs unplugged is, what it currently looks like, and then hit me up with a bigger dream where you want to take it.

Toff West: 33:58

Sure. Yeah so Entrepreneurs Unplugged is a monthly event, so my intention is to run an event in Adelaide on the first Thursday of every month for small to medium sized business owners Generally speaking, I want to get outdoors. I want to be doing some sort of adventurous or fun activity that, that gets us moving, gets you out of your normal day to day environment, out of your normal surroundings. And yeah, like you said, kind of create a bit of a community of business owners of people who, and I do say business owners, because that's my background, you know, I've got experience with small business. I feel that my Unique, you know, zone of genius is in, in, it's in problem solving, but it's in problem solving around how people's businesses interact with their lives, the rest of their lives. So yeah, the, the idea or the vision it's off the back. I had a little mastermind group that I started last year, and we'll see where we go. It's not nothing set in stone. I'm, I'm. I'm really trying to lean into creating something that fits my icky guy, you know, something that, something that I love to do, something that I'm good at, something I can help people with and something I can get paid for. And, and at the moment, what that looks like is a, a monthly event. And Yeah, bringing people together to create a safe space where we can share really share some of the successes like one thing, one thing you find in business is it's pretty rare and I was like a big perpetrator of, of not celebrating wins, you know, like I would have these goals and, and, and things that I wanted to achieve in business and in, and in life, but not not ever pausing to take a moment to say, Oh, wow, like we did this really cool thing and let's celebrate. Or I just made, you know, a hundred thousand dollars. I want to celebrate with someone, but I can't, like, I can't do that with my staff or I can't do that with my family because of their, their model of the world. So the idea is yeah, a space, a safe space for business owners to come together, get out of the normal routine, take a bit of a, an outside look, a bit of a kind of third party. Perspective on your own life and your own business. Is your baby, you know, is your business ugly? Is your baby ugly and go about rectifying that. And, and really, like you said, living the life you love. And that's, that's what I want to help people do. It's what I feel like I've done over the last five years, six years is convert a business. From something that was sapping all of my time, all of my energy, and pretty well all of our money, and transformed it into a vehicle that on, on, on face value looked a lot less significant, less magnificent, but was actually really, you know, really supporting my life and giving me the time and the energy and the money to do all the things I want to do. So in the last five years, I've gone from a workaholic who, who was, you know, having three to six coffees a day From the moment I woke up, which would have been before sunrise through to the moment I went to bed, which was after maybe a couple of alcohol, alcoholic drinks, and, you know, some sort of Netflix show to, in order to be able to get to sleep late at night and just wired the whole time between. Busy, busy, busy. I was always busy to being really quiet, like content with where I'm at and living arguably my best life. You know, like I I'm doing so many of the things I love to do. I've, I've taken, got back into rock climbing. I love it. learn how to play guitar again. And a lot of these things kind of have multiple benefits. It's like, like I do these things, the guitar and it's the Taylor Swift thing actually to like having avenues to connect with my kids that they love. And yeah, so I feel I want to help people do that. I wanna help people live their best life. We've

Claire Byrt: 38:26

got one. I think you, you, you, I mean, you've described such a, a beautiful picture and I think it bears repeating or reflecting upon this idea of like living the life you love. Living the dream. I always talk about living the dream. You know, I've got dream makers and things, dream maker. But what is your dream like? For me, my dream and being with my children and living in port ung and getting in the ocean every day, I still have plenty of things that I need to like sort out and figure out, and that could be better, but truly so much of the time. The way I have created business and life, it's a way that it just works together in a way that's deeply honoring of my heart and my values and the way that I want to be in the world and with my kids. And you said there was this shift for you from something that outwardly appeared less magnificent, right? From the outside and in terms of like size and numbers and what other people are saying versus. I can do less but do it better and do it in a way that actually supports the life I want to live. Yeah. And for me that's living the dream. That's, that's in, you know, in your words, like living your best life. What the fuck else are we here for?

Toff West: 39:43

Seriously? Well, there's, yeah, there's, I think there's plenty of people out there thinking that they're supposed to be following a prescribed pattern that that, which is great. You know, like if that, and if that works for you, great. Like, like I'm not here to, to force. You know, force change on anyone, but for me, it's, it's an invitation, you know, these, these days are an invitation to, to take stock of where you're at. Am I living the best life I want to be living? Like, am I living the life I love? And if not, what do you need to change? And let's change, you know, let's just, you know, Make some, make some step by step changes to get you closer to that mark and what, what that means will change throughout your life too. And that's, I guess, where you started with this question, but what is that for me? Like, what's that vision for me? And my ultimate vision is to experience the, like, like, Life for me is about experiences and I want to experience the most I can in this lifetime with, you know, obviously with respect to the capacity that I have at each point through that. So the way, pardon me, the way I'm approaching that now, and I haven't got too far down this road, but I've, I'm 40 next year. I'm going, I've got a journal and I've laid out in that journal kind of 10 year. Blocks until 120 years old, and I've then got I've got a page. I've got a page for every year that I can document exactly the highlights from that year. But in terms of a planning perspective, I want to start. thinking about, all right, well, these are some of the things I'd like to do in my life. These are some of the experiences I'd like to have, or like for example, it might be you know, being a great dad, raising kids. And that could be a 20 year span from when I was 25 to when I'm, you know, 55. But then it might be you know, climbing mountains or mountain biking or writing a song or learning piano or learn how to become, you know, a master at chess or write a book or become a yoga instructor or like all of these things. Right. So they're all in there. They're all in here. Like, Oh, they're all things I want to do. They all sound great. Want to do them all, can't do them all at once. So in order to prioritize, I want to go, well, what do I need to do at these different brackets of my life? Like if I get to 90 and realize I haven't climbed mountains, it's going to be pretty fricking hard to like, it's not impossible, but it's going to be hard to just like, from the get go, just launch up a mountain at 90. Whereas if I, Get to 90 and I've climbed mountains and it's like, wow, you know, now I want to learn how to master chess. Like, I feel like I could probably do that. So for me, that vision, that life. Kind of plan, I guess, is, is fluid. It's flexible, but I'm taking a really, I guess, like one of my mates says, you know, we dream in dreaming decades. So it's like, what's what's the next decade for me? And that, for me, is building. a, a business that supports a lot of my hobbies, I guess, in terms of getting outdoors. And I'd love to do it, do more travel and adventure while still having The capacity to be an awesome dad. Yeah. So this, you know, I'm, I'm more than halfway through my parenting career. Well, not, not parenting, parenting career. I guess you're always a parent once you've had kids, but, but that kind of zero to 18 of, of. really being there for them, establishing the groundwork. And the next phase for me is, is teenagehood. So we're on the cusp of that and starting to see some of the little hormonal changes and indicators coming in. So I want to, yeah, I want to make sure I've got that and, and what that will come at the cost of is not diving into, you know, like I did into the bakery, like not diving 18 hours a day, seven days a week into a new project. It's going to be far more controlled and sustained, you know, sustainable. Sustainable.

Claire Byrt: 44:19

Yeah. I think one of my, my, I would say my core driving intention is that I can, that I am this, I am a heart driven creator. I will create a successful. And profitable business and be present and connected with my children. Like those two, they, they're, they're not separate for me. I'm not interested in growing a business in a way that doesn't enable me to be not perfect so far from perfect, but as present and connected and as engaged as I can, every step of the way and just figuring out how to parent and at this age and this age and this age. And yeah, like that, that stuff has always been my. Priority. And I, and I hear that with you as well. And it, and it's exciting. I watch you when you're talking, like you light up when you're talking about your kids and you were really lighting up when you were talking about entrepreneurs unplugged and what's coming and getting it outside and just doing all of the things. It's just, it clearly it's like, you're freaking excited about what's in creation. And I, I, I. I really love that. Like, I see that and honour that in you, and I really love that about myself as well, if I can say that. Like, I just, I you know, I feel like I will be figuring this stuff out until the day I die. But it is and I'm just going to like you know, I'm just going to be in the thing and figuring it out. And, you know, right back to the beginning of this podcast, no experience necessary, but I got a dream and I've got a vision and I'm going to figure it out. And I'm just going to like you know, As we were talking about this morning on Dreamstream, like, it's my job to hold the vision. It's your job to hold the vision and be clear about what it is you want and what matters most to you. And then, you know, do the things you say you're going to do and hold some honouring boundaries around that so you can be present and connected with yourself and your family and, and be open to ideation and things dropping in and then actually, you know, Taking action on that stuff and just bit by bit, bringing something into reality. Whilst feeling present and connected as present and connected as you can in each moment to the things that feel most important to you. It's, it just is, it's nothing short of exciting. It's sometimes a hot mess, but it's very exciting. Does that make sense? Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. It's literally in real time, living the dream, living the life you love. Yeah. I want to talk a little bit about the actual tree climb situation on that we had last Thursday. So like anyone listening to this podcast, You're a dreamer, you're a dream maker, an entrepreneur, someone in business, you want to just go after more of what you want. I would highly, highly, highly encourage you to look up, there'll be links under the podcast and stuff like that, but go and look at Toffwest. com. And entrepreneurs unpubbed and just come to the next day, like the next time we're going you can tell us about what we're doing next. From, I just want to share my, my own personal experience in a nutshell, because I've been to a couple of these days bigger picture, I just want to say that every single time It's getting out of my comfort zone. It's, you know, I mean, my comfort zone, let's be real, is in my home with my children, right? Or it's, you know, on a podcast or mentoring dream makers doing all that kind of stuff, but stepping out and, and being in a space where I am not facilitating and I am not holding and controlling. The event a is stepping outside my comfort zone. I'm hanging out with new people. I remember the first event I went with you. We were going paddle boarding. Was that right? And I had a whole situation about sharks. being in bathers. I mean, there was a whole, there was a whole thing going on for me. But it is an opportunity every single time to step outside of your comfort zone. And it's just, it's hands down invaluable for so many reasons. I love these days. I would also like to say that every single time, even though I know I'm in, I resist it in the lead up and I want to say this because not because it's not fucking brilliant because I am also human and a mom and a business owner and I have a lot of things on my plate and I think a lot of people I've got friends and I know they'll be listening to this I, when I came home last week, they're like, I'm coming to the next one with you. Right. And I, they will bit by bit. People will start like, you know, coming, coming. But there is resistance because people have very busy and very full lives. Right. But. I don't think you would ever regret it because you get a full day, like a full day from like 7am through to 3 or 4 o'clock in the afternoon, completely in your body, in your presence, meeting and connecting with amazing people, sharing the truth about where you're at and where you want to be. Getting outside of your comfort zone, whether it's on a paddleboard, in a kayak. We did that on a very windy day and that was sensational that day. During tree climb last week. And you just feel so alive. You feel so, you know, Connected to yourself and very adventurous as well. And then of course, there's, you know, people we get to listen to as well. You have key speakers and stuff like that. I did a key speaking last time about time management, but the one we had this week with This month with Adam, is it, what's his name? Adam Carpenter, legend. That man from Prohibition, that man from Prohibition, Jim Desilery. There was just so much gold to be got from him as well. So I'll, I'll share my little thoughts on him and then we'll go back to tree climb. The biggest nutshell from that experience, like the whole group of us, after we went to tree climb, we got to go to the gin distillery and just have a very open hearted conversation with someone who is doing it is doing their thing out in the world, and it's just so refreshing to be able to hear from other people in business. And I was just so inspired by his innovation, by his creativity, by his courage, by his capacity to pivot. And there was just so much in that from a personal and business perspective for myself. And I know the other guys that were there as well, that You just like really inspired, really inspired to keep playing the game, staying in the arena, keep showing up, keep figuring stuff out. So I've said a billion things about it. So what was your biggest takeaway from the Arvo and then come back to tree climbs?

Toff West: 51:00

Oh, my biggest takeaway from Thursday afternoon. I, I think one of, one of my biggest takeaways was kind of like, In what you're saying, which is that, you know, the only way out is through, you know, like, like, like, there is definitely points in any business where you need to grind, you know, like you need to, you know, Like there's, there is the, there is the creative and the fun birthing of new things phases. But there is, I think like a business is only a business if it's generating a profit. Like if you, if you are doing what you're doing just to make enough money to live, then you've, you've kind of, you created a job, not a business. If you're doing it for less than that, then it's a liability, you know, like you're losing money. So yeah, to the. To have a business, I think there's points where, yeah, we identify maybe, maybe the mountain we need to climb or Or the, you know, the cave we need to dig. And literally you're just there, one step at a time, one foot in front of the other. Yep, I've just got to get to this grind, grind, grind. You know, dig, dig, dig, dig, dig. And if you keep digging, or let's like, if you use the metaphor of like, Trying to find water, you know, if you start digging in one hole and then go, Oh, there's no water here. I'm going to go over there and then I'm going to dig over there and go over here and dig over there. You're going to have all these half dug holes that haven't got you anywhere. But if you just persist, you know, if you persist and go through, keep digging, you'll get there, you know so it's that tenacity. And I think that's sort of one thing that, yeah, coming away from Adam's talk was just that, you know, the, in hard times. You know, what do they say? When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Like, it's like you can, what you can choose to fall over and, and, and wither and die, or just find a way, make a way. And that, that is life. Like, like life will constantly throw challenges at us and business constantly throws challenges at us. But as entrepreneurs, the whole reason we are entrepreneurs is that we get in a situation with a series of parameters and we figure it out. You know, we, we, that's, and one thing I love about, you know, the psychology of that, or actually when I, when I realized that, that that's what an entrepreneur does, what I do as a, as an entrepreneur, I, I get given a, a situation and I need to find a solution. And so I now start manufacturing situations in order to put pressure on myself to create better outcomes. So yeah, I, I think for me, yeah, the day, like the days have been fantastic. I really have loved getting people together, getting out and doing something a bit adventurous, maybe, you know, challenging your comfort zone a little. But definitely being able to share openly and authentically about What's going on in your business, knowing that you're in an environment where no, one's going to judge, you know, people that were all there to help each other. And yeah, I think Adam, you know, Adam sort of led that from the front on on Thursday, he just jumped up and, and gave us the, the, the real and raw experience of what it's like to own a a gin distillery, a gin business in, in a times through COVID and now through a time where no one's, no one's, you know, buying alcohol and just the, the innovation and the creativity that's kind of come from all of that. Yeah.

Claire Byrt: 55:02

I I, that was one of my biggest things, like the, and you talked about like finding a way and making a way, that's what I, I saw him again and again, make a way. Like, I'm going to create a way forward. And I think that that, I think there's just so much power in that. And I think we can also take that back to, you know, tree climb physically being however many meters up high in the sky we were and, you know, You know, each stage you would get to there'd be another strip in front of you where you have to get from one friggin very high tree to the other very high tree and you're already hooked in and you really the only option is forward. Yeah, you already, it's like, we already made the commitment to do this. Okay, let's go. And even though there were some parts that were more challenging than others, it was, I'm just going to take the next step and take the next step and take the next step. And particularly when we got to that point of having to, I think they call it the Tarzan free fall off that perch of the tree. And then be flung into a net. That was, that was intense. That was very intense. But it was also a case of like, Well, I mean, and the only way is through, like, I can't start backing away from this is a bunch of people behind me all hooked in as well. And it's like, well, I've come this far. I'm, you know, I'm not going to come this I've only, you know, come this far to only go this far. And it was scary, but we already kind of had so many moments through the day that we'd Like affirmed, well, the only way is forward. The only way is through, let's just go. It's the, what is the alternative is to lay down and stay up in the tree? I don't know. So yeah, there were just so many moments in that. And I think probably tenacity is a, is a great way to describe that. So. Yeah, I think I got so much out of the time with Adam. I got so much out of being at Tree Climb, you know, simply the idea of like just facing your fears. And I think some people that might be being on heights, it might be climbing, it might be hanging out with new people, whatever it is. And really having opportunity after opportunity to kind of go up against your own perceived limitations and then. Step or lean back and let go or literally fling yourself off into the unknown. But then realize, you know, you, you survived and you can keep going and you are stronger than, you know, there was definitely a moment at the end and I was so exhausted after we'd done the Tarzan thing. And I was on this, these swinging ropes with, I don't even know how to describe it, but poles that weren't connected to each other and like I was literally holding on for dear life and just taking one step at a time and there was a, there was no going back. It was going to be harder to go back anyway. It was like in the air with no option but just to hold on tight, breathe, talk to myself. And take one step at a time. And I think that that's, you know, for anyone who's challenged in, in business or in life is what we need to do is just do that, like breathe and hold on and take, take the next step and then take the next step and I got a lot out of. Always. I asked for someone to be in front of me. I loved knowing that there was someone who had gone before me in a way. And then I specifically asked for people to be behind me as well. And I think that feeling of like, Like having someone's got your back kind of vibe. Yeah. Yeah, I just think that there was just so much energy. Did you have any of your own personal takeaways from the actual tree climb that related to

Toff West: 59:04

business? I think, I don't know about business, but I think just that. Like we talked about before, like if you're in a child kind of coming out, you know, like that ability to play and have fun and, and, and, and yeah, get out. I think that's probably what's my personal takeaway, just like, cause I wasn't going to do it necessarily. I was like, you know, I don't, I can, I can just get some photos from the ground. I'll like, you know that's

Claire Byrt: 59:36

how I'll do it. It would be. You see, I thought you were, you're in for everything all the time. That's part of the game.

Toff West: 59:44

I mean, I enjoy it. So yeah, it's not it's not a hard sell, but I think that was my, my takeaway personally was really just like, this is, this is cool. Like this is, this is just fun and this is why the kids love it. This is why, you know,

Claire Byrt: 1:00:02

yeah, I think to be fair, you know, as I've listened to give you my recap on my, I've focused a lot on the things that I've been scared about, you know but I think there is a, such a huge part of that. Like there was so many moments in like the, the Claudia said to one of the girls, like they said, are you from interstate? And she's like, nah, we're just all entrepreneurs. We can do what we want. And I was like, I love that. But just being out there and in the trees. Like, this is how we were spending our day. I think there is, I know, I just happen to be, you know, a person who is scared of many things, which is why what you're offering is so good for many people. Like it's really an actual in real life opportunity. I do scary things in my business. Every single day, except on the weekends, right? The scary thing is to rest, right? Fully rest and hold the boundary. But to do the physical scary things that put me outside of my comfort zone and I question my safety in a whole nother way, I don't do that. And your event is enabling me to do that. And I feel very proud of myself for doing that. And even though I'm scared. It's a, it's a 20 percent of the time compared to 80 percent of like, look at me fucking go. This is fun. What are we doing in the water, in the trees, like hanging out with these cool people. So. Yeah, I think it is. You're really onto a winner. What you are creating is exceptional. So well bloody done to you. What would you, you know, as we, as we wrap this up, what would you love people

Toff West: 1:01:37

to know? What would I love people to know? I would love people to know that they're welcome to join us. Absolutely. Every, every month there'll be an event. I am Slowly navigating social media and learning how to get myself out there online. So yeah, one of the, I mean, probably if they, if they follow, if, if the listeners of the podcast follow along in your world, Claire, I'm sure that you'll probably be just as over letting people know what's on and when, but, I've got a Facebook page for adventure based coaching is the page. So that's the business I'm working towards. Or just follow me, follow Toff West on Instagram or Facebook. So yeah, I'd love to, yeah, I'd love to just extend the invitation. Anyone, you know, the, the target target audience is, is small business or small to medium business owners. And yeah, really about creating a, An experience. So, so like moving your body, physically doing something, getting outdoors, getting some sunlight, getting some fresh air, getting, you know, a whole bunch of new perspectives and kind of like you were saying, Claire, like, really, like, I'm not there to create a recipe for a specific outcome. I am there to create opportunities for a whole variety of learnings and outcomes that will come to every individual in whatever way they need. So generally, yeah, generally I will, we'll have a focus for the day, a little bit of a theme. So our next one in April, we're going to be looking at Relationships like business and pleasure. So Cara West, my gorgeous wife is going to be our guest speaker there. So she's going to come in with the firsthand experience of being married to a workaholic entrepreneur, her husband who was building, building this massive business over, over the first part. And then has been through that journey of, of my change. And then, and then. You know, I'm sure we'll, we'll end up speaking into a lot of how we maintain our relationship and the health of our, our relationship one on one and with the kids. And so, yeah, so the theme thing for April, April the 4th we're going to be in McLaren Vale and our adventure activity for the day is going to create a little bit of a scavenger hunt. A little bit of an orienteering course for us to, see if the Easter bunnies left any eggs, eggs around McLaren Vale on e bikes. So we've got some electric bikes for the morning. We'll, we'll probably pair up, we'll go in small groups of three. And there'll be a little bit of, a little bit of fun to get out around the Vale. A little bit of healthy competition in there, maybe. Maybe a little bit of healthy competition, yeah. There's nothing, nothing that most business owners aren't up

Claire Byrt: 1:04:26

for. Yeah. And, and the people that you're bringing in are such amazing people, like really good quality, lovely, grounded, authentic humans. So yeah I'm very much looking forward to being there. And we talked about it just before we got on the podcast. If anyone who is listening to this episode of the podcast and would like to come to the next event then just screenshot you listening to this episode and tag. I think Instagram, let's just keep it simple, if that's okay, and just tag us on Instagram CBDreammaker and Toff West and we'll give you, we, Toff, we'll give you 50 bucks off your ticket to come to the next event. And I think yeah, that'd be really cool. And it'd be nice to hear from you anyway, in terms of if you listen to this episode and, you know, what this, you've just shared so many things. I just scribbled over two Big A3 pieces of paper like a mad woman. But there's just so much gold in here and everything you shared. So thank you so much for being in conversation with me and just being such a beautiful example of living the dream and, and being willing to figure it out along the way. What's been your biggest takeaway from this conversation

Toff West: 1:05:33

from the conversation or I definitely I don't know one of my biggest takeaways was noticing how much I say Like filler words. I use filler words while I'm speaking. So I've noticed my my language patterns I really something just came up just then, actually I'd lost biggest takeaway from this conversation. I don't know. It's, it's, it's exciting. Like, I feel it's probably one thing I've heard you say a lot Claire, which is, it is this just show up, you know, do it, have a go. Don't make it perfect. Done is better than perfect. And so, yeah, my. My sentiment kind of leading out of this chat is, is definitely around just to keep having a go, you know, like, keep, keep showing up doing things imperfectly because yeah, like, I, I agree. Like, I think this is the entrepreneurs unplugged events are a fantastic opportunity for so many business owners who are caught up in the day to day. Rat race of doing peddling away and not really coming up for air. I think there's definitely so much value in the days for people to get out. But, but my, you know, my role here is to let those people know that it's available and how do I do that? You know, how do I just show up and, and, and do my best to get that out there. And because I'm pretty clunky on the socials

Claire Byrt: 1:07:10

you know, when you said at the beginning of the podcast no experience necessary. It's the same thing. You figure out, figure out how to like birth and grow a bakery and have 5 stores and then bring it back into a way that it's. Is really honoring of you and your family. And now he's just a new platform. He's just a new, new way of figuring things out. And I think if we can all give ourselves that grace I was like, I have to pull a dream, make a car before the conversation ends. And it literally flew out onto the floor. And I think it's related to what we're saying. It says, play the game, make your next move. Let it be fun. Let it be easy. Yeah, and I think that's just a real nod to just give yourself permission to iterate your way through anything. I don't need to know how to do it and have fun. I like that. And just have a good time in the process. Otherwise, you're just going to create a shit ton of pain for yourself. So let it be fun. Let it be easy. On that note let's peace out. Toff, thank you so much. I've loved having this conversation with you. Look forward to the next iteration and catch you soon. Thanks,

Toff West: 1:08:17

Claire. Absolute pleasure. Bye.