Applied Improv Facilitator

Julie hoards toilet paper rolls and turns them into paper flowers. She pitches ridiculous fake startups (Love A Lemur was born at SOUTHSTART and she still thinks it deserves funding). She has a way of making strangers feel like they’ve known each other for years — which is probably why she’s been facilitating rooms professionally for decades.

Talk to Julie about

Play and applied improv as serious leadership tools. Designing and facilitating great group experiences — workshops, retreats, hard conversations. Peer forums and facilitation models like YPO/EO Forum.

Co-Founder, The Community Collective

Paz co-founded The Community Collective — what started as a Melbourne meetup is now a global movement with 700+ members across 18 countries. She’s trained Google, Canva, MYOB, and Notion in community strategy. She’s also a composer of relaxation music under Paz Sounds, reaching over 10 million people. Two very different kinds of community building. Both very her.

Talk to Paz about

Community strategy and how to build one that actually sticks. She’s trained Google, Canva, MYOB, Notion, and Founders Factory Africa. What it means to scale something with soul intact.

Founder, Hype Man Media & Startup Vagabond

Dickie travels to obscure places, eats questionable street food, and has an uncanny ability to walk into any room and know immediately who should be talking to whom. He founded Hype Man Media to tell stories of Australian innovation to the world, and Startup Vagabond to connect startup communities across borders. He recently got married in India and is available for Bollywood dancing demonstrations. He is completely serious.

Talk to Dickie about

Global startup ecosystems, community building across borders, and storytelling that cuts through the noise. If you want to know what’s happening in other innovation hubs around the world — Dickie’s been there.

Managing Director, P3 Studio

Vinisha describes herself as an extrovert who builds relationships like an introvert — methodical, thoughtful, and genuinely curious about the person in front of her. She helps tech companies scale globally, and knows the difference between a contact and a connection. She’s also hosting a 30-minute ‘Prepping for SOUTHSTART’ session before the festival — practical, honest, and exactly the kind of thing most people wish existed at every conference.

Talk to Vinisha about

International expansion, go-to-market strategy, and what it actually takes to build meaningful relationships in new markets. She knows the difference between a contact and a connection.

Founder, Forever Projects

Mark was a secondary maths teacher. Then a coach for Seth Godin’s altMBA. Then he flew to Tanzania on a whim and ended up founding Forever Projects — a non-profit ending the orphan crisis through income creation for women and nutrition for their babies. There’s a thread through all of it: he curates environments where people feel safe enough to show up fully and contribute something real.

Talk to Mark about

Building community, founder mindset, shaping partnerships, and creating impact. The tension of growing something meaningful — how do you hold the mission and the momentum at the same time?

Co-Founder, abilio

Steve spent years as Director of Business Impact Strategy at Atlassian, asking how a company’s giving shapes who it becomes. He advises startups at Remarkable Tech and co-founded abilio — using technology and policy to make public spaces accessible for people with disabilities. He’s a Pledge 1% advocate who helps purposeful people build things that matter. That’s literally how he describes what he does.

Talk to Steve about

Purpose-driven building, social impact strategy, how to make corporate philanthropy feel genuine rather than performative, and what it looks like to lead with values when growth gets hard.