Pak Chat

Flow state isn't a lucky accident. It's a measurable brain state, and Mark Lang can show you the data.Mark spent 25 years leading senior teams in media, tech and AI before he built Executive NeuroPerformance. It came out of a question that follows pretty much every founder I talk to: how do you actually perform at your peak under real pressure, and then recover fast enough to get up and do it again the next day? His answer is a mix of meditation, breathwork and clinical-grade EEG to train flow on demand.Here's the thing that got me. We all track our revenue, our pipeline, our numbers. Almost nobody tracks the one asset that produces all of it, which is your own mind. Mark calls it your operating state, and the wild part is he can actually measure it on a brain scan. This one's a video episode too, so you'll see me strap on the EEG headset and try it live.A few things we get into:- Why most good operators already have the skills, and what's really capping their performance- The paradox of sales: the one thing you obsess over is usually the one thing you can't control- How flow state is trainable and measurable, not some mythical thing only elite athletes get- What 20 minutes of the right protocol can do, and how it locks you in for two to four hours- Why recovering fast matters as much as performing, and how it lets you actually show up at home- How your state is contagious, and the flow-on effect it has on your team and your family- What an EEG actually measures, including something called alpha peak frequency, basically your brain's operating speedChapters:00:00:00 Introduction: flow state, and the man who can measure it00:02:00 25 years in high-pressure sales, and the question that started it00:04:00 The gap most operators miss: skills are nailed, operating state isn't00:06:00 A top performer doing $250M a year, and getting back to peak under pressure00:09:00 What "operating state" actually means00:10:00 The paradox of sales: control the inputs, not the outcome00:13:00 Measuring the mind: surveys, EEG and the data00:18:00 Flow state demystified: why the zone is trainable00:21:00 Bliss chemistry, and why breathwork is the accelerator00:24:00 20 minutes in, locked in for hours, and getting home present00:27:00 Why your operating state is contagious00:31:00 What you can start doing, and Mark's background00:36:00 Live demo: the EEG headset and brain operating speed00:42:00 Ancient techniques meet modern tech, and what's next00:48:00 Keeping it simple, and where to find MarkAbout MarkMark Lang is the founder of Executive NeuroPerformance. He spent 25 years leading senior teams in media, tech and AI before moving into performance neuroscience. He's a qualified Vedic (Transcendental) meditation teacher and breathwork instructor, has been meditating for over a decade, and has taught it for eight years. These days he trains executives, founders and operators to reach flow state on demand using meditation, breathwork and clinical-grade EEG. You'll find him at executiveneuroperformance.com.au and on LinkedIn.About Pak ChatPak Chat is hosted by Blake Thorn, Director of Auspak Home Loans. Long-form conversations with founders and operators building something real across business, property and growth. New episodes weekly.Watch the full video on Spotify or YouTube, including the EEG demo, or listen on Apple Podcasts and wherever you get your podcasts. Follow Pak Chat so you don't miss the next one.

Mortgage broker market share is pushing 80 per cent in Australia. But the Commonwealth Bank executive who runs the broker channel rarely sits down and says, on the record, what the bank is actually thinking. CBA's Baber Zaka just did.As General Manager of Third Party Banking at Commonwealth Bank, Baber holds one of the most influential roles in the entire Australian mortgage industry, he controls how CBA, the country's largest lender, works with its broker network. And in this conversation, he's candid in a way bank executives almost never are.Blake and Baber go deep on where broking is actually headed: the consolidation coming for a 22,000-broker industry, the value-proposition shift most brokers haven't prepared for, the truth about broker vs. branch channel conflict, and what CBA is building behind the scenes for 2026 and beyond.If you're a broker, this is a rare chance to hear what the other side of the desk is planning. If you're not, it's a masterclass in reading an industry before it changes.What you'll learn:Why the traditional broker value proposition is about to shift and what replaces it when the back end of a loan becomes a five-minute processCBA's real position on broker vs. branch channel conflict, straight from the sourceThe 22,000-broker stat (and the 22 per cent who are inactive): why consolidation is coming, and what it means for youWhat CBA's platinum tier actually looks like from the insideWhy process consistency - not rate - is what CBA believes winsHow a philosophy student became a Morgan Stanley banker, then GM at Australia's biggest bankCareer advice: why you should apply for the things you don't feel qualified forChapters:00:00:00 Introduction and Baber's background00:00:52 From philosophy degree to investment banking00:02:06 The Virgin Money deal: one analyst, 6,000-person acquisition00:07:17 Leadership lessons from the hard years00:13:27 Why CBA's process consistency wins00:26:25 Channel conflict: broker vs. branch, the real picture00:34:17 Broker consolidation: 22,000 brokers, 22 per cent inactive00:35:07 The future value proposition of a broker00:48:49 CBA's strategy for 2026 and beyond00:53:20 Career advice: find what you actually enjoySubscribe for new episodes every week: [Pak Chat YouTube link]Listen on the go: Spotify [link], Apple Podcasts [link]Watch next: [related Pak Chat episode]About Baber ZakaBaber Zaka is General Manager of Third Party Banking at Commonwealth Bank, where he leads the broker channel for Australia's largest lender. A graduate of the London School of Economics (Economics and Philosophy), he spent two decades in finance across Morgan Stanley, Royal Bank of Canada and Virgin Money before joining CBA, where he held senior roles including Chief Operating Officer of third-party banking. Connect with Baber on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/baber-zaka-b059339/About Pak ChatPak Chat is hosted by Blake Thorn, Director of Auspak Home Loans - long-form conversations with the founders, agents and operators who've built something. New episodes weekly.If you work in or around the mortgage industry, follow Pak Chat and send this one to a broker who needs to hear it.

Clay Brodie spent 15 years becoming one of the most recognised real estate agents in New South Wales , straight years in Ray White's Chairman's Elite, the top 1% of Australia's biggest network, and director of an office that placed top 10 in the country.Now he's putting all of it behind his boldest move yet: building a new office at WHITEFOX Sydney.At 35, Clay is starting the next chapter from a position of real strength, 15 years of hard-won experience, a personal brand that's outlasted every business card he's printed, and the clarity that comes from doing the work on himself, not just his business.In this conversation, Blake and Clay go deep on what it actually takes to build a long, durable career in sales, not the scripts or the tactics, but the foundation underneath them. They get into why consistency is the only real strategy, why a personal brand compounds for decades, and what it looks like to back yourself completely on something new.What you'll learn:Why your personal brand will always outlast the agency on your business card and how Clay built his before it was obviousWhat 15 years of consistency actually compounds into, and why almost no one stays long enough to find outThe Brodie corner: how he built brand awareness before anyone else had a strategyHow investing in your health and mindset becomes the foundation for your best workWhy the biggest opportunities tend to find you when you're building from a clear, grounded placeWhat's structurally different about WHITEFOX, and why its model changes how agents grow and earnWhat Clay is building in Paddington over the next 12 to 24 monthsAdvice for anyone starting out, or backing themselves on something newChapters:00:00:00 Introduction and Clay's connection to the Thorns00:01:39 From rugby to real estate by accident00:03:42 First years: grinding the phones and building a network00:08:54 The Brodie corner at East Rugby00:11:59 Consistency as the foundation of a 15-year career00:13:42 Building a personal brand before it was obvious00:16:18 From agent to director: what changes when you lead people00:20:12 Pressure, mistakes, and learning from both00:22:59 Mentoring others: what he shares from his own journey00:24:10 The six-month reset: health, mindset, and a fresh start00:27:16 How Clay sells now vs. how he sold at 2000:30:24 Authenticity in sales: connecting before pitching00:32:30 Recognising when the lifestyle stops serving you00:34:19 The move to WHITEFOX after 15 years00:37:43 Ray White vs. WHITEFOX: what's actually different00:40:31 The collaborative structure that changes how teams earn00:43:16 Building in Paddington and the next 12–24 months00:48:22 Passion, legacy, and what he wants his daughters to see00:50:32 Advice for anyone starting out or backing themselves on something new00:54:05 How to reach Clay and what's nextAbout Clay BrodieClay Brodie is Associate Director at WHITEFOX Sydney. A former professional rugby union player who entered real estate in 2009, Clay built a 15-year career at Ray White - top 1% of the network, running an office that consistently placed top 10 nationwide. Find Clay on Instagram @thebrodiegroup and at whitefoxrealestate.com.au.

37 years. $4 billion in property sold. 6,000 auctions called. 27 consecutive years of 100+ transactions. Adrian Bo is one of the most credentialled sales operators in Australia and the coach behind the top agents at McGrath, Ray White, and beyond.He sits down with Blake Thorn on Pak Chat for one of the most direct conversations on selling, process and team-building you'll hear this year.What you'll learn:The accidental pivot from stockbroking to property — and what 35 years of reading rooms actually teaches youHow the internet rewired real estate in real time, and Adrian's honest read on what AI does to the industry nextThe single trait every top performer Adrian has coached shares — it isn't product knowledge, and most agents have it backwardsWhy affability and rapport out-earn technical expertise in almost every client conversationThe surgeon analogy he uses to teach team leaders what to keep, what to delegate, and what to stop doing todayProcess as a competitive advantage — the pilot's checklist mindset behind every listing he winsWhy most client relationships are dead before the first proper meeting — and the structured "expectation meeting" that fixes itPractical advice for self-employed operators in their 20s and 30s on health, process and closing