By Design with Matt Curle

Steve Palise didn’t build Palise Property from a comfortable Sydney office. He spent its early years working from 4am while travelling through 20 countries across Europe.What initially looked like a risky decision became one of the greatest advantages in his business. Distance forced Steve to hire capable people earlier, develop systems that didn’t depend on him and use education and content to build trust at scale. Today, Palise Property has been involved in more than 2,000 property acquisitions.In this conversation, Steve shares the full journey from walking away from engineering and taking a significant pay cut to becoming the first employee at Rethink Investing, launching his own business overseas and eventually learning how to step back from the day-to-day operation and become a genuine leader.We explore the personal experiences that gave him the urgency to change his life, the realities of scaling a team, why giving away his best knowledge helped the business grow and why he believes too many founders build companies that ultimately trap them.Steve also opens up about his personal property journey. After building a substantial residential portfolio, he found that his net worth was rising while his happiness was not. That realisation led him to sell down, shift into commercial property and redefine wealth around passive income, family, freedom and the ability to live life on his own terms.We also discuss travel, fatherhood, risk, leadership, commercial property, buying a family home, expanding internationally and why Steve believes the best businesses are built through patience, consistency and genuine value.This is far more than a conversation about property. It’s an honest look at ambition, success and designing a business that supports the life you actually want.

Kerrod Holland’s journey to the NRL wasn’t a straight line.After not making it in rugby league as a teenager, Kerrod went down a different path and completed his electrical trade.But at 21, he made a decision that would completely change the direction of his life: give footy one more proper crack and go all in.That decision eventually took him from working as an electrician to playing 71 NRL games for the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.In Episode 2 of By Design, Kerrod shares what it took to back himself when there were no guarantees, the reality of professional sport, and what happened when that chapter eventually came to an end.We talk about identity, money, family, mindset and the transition from professional football into financial advice and building his own business, Tenex Wealth.Kerrod also shares the philosophies he now carries into everyday life. A conversation about taking your shot, going all in and continuing to build when life takes you in a completely different direction.

At 30 years old, Luke Zeaiter was fit, healthy and preparing to travel through Europe when doctors discovered that all three of his major arteries were 99% blocked.His cardiologist told him that if he left the hospital, he could be dead within two weeks.Luke was rushed into emergency triple bypass surgery. But surviving the operation was only the beginning.In this episode, Luke opens up about the fear of believing he may never see his family again, the physical pain of having his chest cut open, losing 14 kilograms, learning to walk and feed himself again, and reaching the darkest point of his life during recovery.He also shares how he rebuilt himself one step at a time, eventually going from struggling to walk a few metres to running 10 kilometres just five months after surgery.We discuss how nearly dying changed his relationship with money and success, and why he now values time, health and the people around him above everything else.A raw conversation about resilliance, trauma, and rebuilding your life after almost losing it.