SPARK TANK 2019

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Paul is a problem solving web expert with over 20 years in the industry, architecting and developing software  in operational and management roles. Since 2002 he has founded and built 2 web development companies to help small and medium sized businesses use the web and web-based systems to their advantage. Through his business he enjoys developing and encouraging the gifts in his employees, working on startup products and partnering with experts in their field to see their vision come to life by creating online software using the latest technologies

As a family man and active community member Paul loves seeing the potential in kids activated and encouraged through sport and any initiative utilising their gifts and interests.

Crystal’s own journey commenced after immigrating to Australia and in 1994 becoming Caltex’s first female franchisee for 15 years in the northern beaches of Sydney, before Caltex recruited her as their National Category Manager. She completed her Master of Business Administration (MBA), before deciding to re-enter the franchising world, going on to manage two highly successful Hire A Hubby franchises with Jim her partner, winning National Franchise twice and Enterprise of the Year awards 4 times. All before incorporating her own first start-up. She has also won Franchise Council Australia Enterprise NSW 2018 and recently the NSW Franchisee of the Year 2018 for Hire A Hubby.

Having been part of the Franchise Sector for over 25 years, and been on both sides of the fence, Crystal understands and has a passion and love for franchising and business. The decision to apply her business coaching skills has become her most rewarding move yet, to purchase a franchise with The Alternative Board.

Keith has spent the last 30 years sourcing new and unique products mainly in Europe and bringing them to market in Australia plus manufacturing his own products in China. Keith specialises in launching new products involving sales, marketing, pricing and promotion.

He is now launching his own product line, How You Work, to help people find out who they are, what they are naturally good at doing, what their talent is, their natural intelligence, 3 top strengths and the careers that best suit them.

Keith is passionate to help people and businesses find the answers to these big questions because research shows that only 1 out of 5 people have the right talent to do well in the work that they have chosen and find fulfilment and happiness at work.

Chau was born in Saigon during the Vietnam war. When she was 4 years old, her family escaped Vietnam along with 160 other refugees on a boat that her father had "borrowed" from the South Vietnamese Communist Party. They were one of the first boat people to arrive on Australian shores in 1978.

She did well at school and university. In 1997, she proudly graduated from UNSW with a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Accounting and Marketing.  Chau has worked for a broad spectrum of blue-chip multinationals including Procter and Gamble, Novatis, Selleys and Beiersdorf in various marketing roles. This has allowed her to travel the world and meet so many interesting and inspiring people.

In 2007, her and her husband decided to take a sabbatical out of their busy corporate lives to go live in a treehouse in Port Vila, Vanuatu. Crazy heh!?!  

In 2008, Chau and her husband co-founded Hydrant Creative, a boutique design agency based in Avalon, Sydney. Their work philosophy is " Work to live not Live to work." They strive hard to achieve a work life balance.  She is passionate about her work and has been blessed with the opportunity to work with some great long term clients such as Panasonic, Amgen and Lincoln Sentry.

Chau is a devoted wife,  proud mother of 2 beautiful girls and 1 fluffy male dog. She has a love of all things in the garden, sea and forests. Chau is a huge advocate of empowering young women to reach their potential despite their circumstances.

Jason has run small and large companies in Australia and abroad for the last 25 years.

After finishing his Engineering studies in Australia, Jason jointly ran and technically managed a tram ticketing system roll out in the UK for three years from the age of 22.

Returning to Australia he focused on honing his craft in the access control industry and he soon purchased a small local company at the age of 28. Over the next 15 years his company evolved into a national entity and won a number of national distributorships. After 15 years of ownership he was approached by an Italian multinational who bought his business and Jason stayed on for a period of time to run this business.

Jason's next move was CEO of another Australian engineering business which he set up and ran for a large Australian group of companies. Currently Jason is Managing Director of his own national engineering business and business building again!

Jason has an 'anything is possible' attitude and enjoys the variety and people side of running businesses. He is a keen traveller, property investor and a Kids Mentor for the Raise Foundation

After graduating from Sydney University, Geoff worked as a project engineer with Honeywell for 8 years working on automation projects in Australia, Hong Kong, The Philippines and the UK. Seeking a career change, Geoff entered the Recruitment Industry in 1989 and established Calibrate Recruitment in 1992 specializing in providing recruitment services to clients in engineering, construction, manufacturing, industrial & technology sectors.

In 2014 Geoff completed a trade sale of Calibrate to Tokyo based en-japan inc (JASDAQ listed). Geoff has always been a hands-on recruiter having relied on a strong leadership team to achieve growth to $5m in fees with 20 staff across 2 offices and international affiliations with partners in the UK, South Africa, New Zealand, Singapore, China, Canada and the USA. Geoff is now building an Executive Search and HR Consulting business specializing in the Energy, Utility infrastructure and Technology sectors.

On a personal note, Geoff was raised in country NSW, now lives in Bayview with his wife Christine and their daughters Ruby and Eloise. He is an active investor in property and equities, enjoys keeping fit and passionate about helping others do life well. Geoff and Christine are on the leadership team at C3 Church Oxford Falls where they are passionate about helping people do life well through connect groups and facilitated discussion groups aimed at assisting men navigate out of depression.