Business Innovation Series Episode 3: Angela Vithoulkas

When you think of the word 'champion', you probably think of a 'winner' -somebody who takes first place. But the true meaning of champion is more than winning a competition. It's a 13th Century concept for a person who fights on behalf of another. A champion advocates for something or someone, especially when that someone cannot do it themselves. This is the noble goal of our political system but I'm sad to say that our parliaments are not necessarily filled with the people's champions. That's why it's so incredible to have found one in Angela Vithoulkas. It's unlikely you've never heard about before because she is so noisy when it comes to small business being the engine room of our economy. Angela is a sitting councillor for the City of Sydney, and is the founder and leader of the Small Business Political Party. She's owned many small businesses, you've probably heard her on national television or radio, and she now brings all of that rich experience together into an excellent TV show called SMETV which you can see for free on Youtube. Despite all of this achievement, I think her most impressive feat is catching her first shoplifter at the age of 3. In today's conversation we'll talk about how business can and will rise from the ashes of COVID-19, but what I really hope we discover is - why is Angela our champion? Was it always there? Or was it created by circumstance? ------------------ Watch this episode on Youtube: https://youtu.be/f2r6x7NeNbU Angela's TV show: https://www.youtube.com/c/SMETVPodcasts Follow Angela: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelavithoulkas/ https://www.facebook.com/VithoulkasAngela/ ------------------ Show Notes: 2:40 Angela was catching shoplifters at 3 years old 7:30 Greek restaurants in Sydney 11:22 The birth of Vivo Cafes 12:27 The formula for flipping businesses 15:00 The Vivo Cafe strategy 16:25 The Sydney Light Rail saga 20:00 The secrets of politics 25:25 The state of George St, Sydney 29:40 The birth of the Small Business Political Party 33:24 Why Angela became the people's champion 35:50 Lobby groups 38:15 Angela's message to business owners 41:00 SMEs have more hope than big business 42:00 Predictions for Melbourne 45:00 the invention of Pty Ltd companies 46:00 Victoria needs to live with the virus 53:10 Why did Victoria abandon its pandemic response plan? 54:34 Melbourne adopted the Wuhan response to COVID-19 58:50 Victoria's failure to respond to the Aged Care crisis 1:03:00 Vote for your local champions regardless of party 1:04:30 Finding your local champion 1:05:38 Forcing MPs to work harder 1:10:40 Voting for people who actually care 1:13:19 What makes politics worth it 1:15:55 SMETV Gives people a voice 1:20:40 A dictatorship rules the City of Sydney Council 1:24:00 Political campaigns cost millions of dollars 1:28:30 Melbourne responds to Angela's message of solidarity 1:30:25 Angela's biggest life lesson