I recently made Insurance Business Magazine's Hot List 2026 — recognised as one of the top insurance executives and professionals in Australia and New Zealand. Shielded was ranked the number one brokerage in 2025. We have over 100 staff across five offices.
But ten years ago, I was sitting in someone else's office, watching people walk to a printer, scribble leads on a paper pad, and take calls on a phone with a cord attached to the desk.
This is how we got from there to here.
The Origin: A Web Guy in an Insurance Office
I did not come from the insurance industry in the traditional sense. I was a systems guy. I had been building things on the internet since I was fifteen — clan websites for our online gaming teams, forums, and eventually some of the highest-traffic websites on the planet for customising social media pages on MySpace, Bebo, Friendster, and Tumblr.
I do not know exactly where it got programmed into me, but I look at things and see opportunity. I reverse engineer it, visualise the cogs, and think "I'd do it like this."
So when I found myself working for another broker in 2016 — testing the idea with my co-founders Stuart and Doug — and saw paper-based lead management, cord phones, and trips to the scanner, I did not see chaos. I saw what it could be. We had the leads. We had the sales ability. And I knew I could build the best systems. It was time to build our own.
Building the Engine Nobody Else Has
Today, hundreds of users interact with our custom-built CRM daily. Third parties are integrated into it, dealing with thousands of leads through custom APIs. I built it from scratch.
People ask me why I did not just buy Salesforce or whatever else is on the shelf. The answer is simple: you cannot buy exactly what you want off the shelf. My businesses are my baby. I grow them, I build how they work. Off the shelf just feels like there's no moat and no agility. When your competitors are all running the same software, the system is the edge.
Thousands of Micro Decisions
People love to talk about the "big bet" — the one pivotal moment that changed everything. The reality is nothing like that.
Entrepreneurship is a lot of risk-taking, but when I look back, it is thousands of micro decisions you make over the years that all have to be the right decision. You get some wrong, but you fail fast and keep rolling. Yes, you think about money, but you are thinking about something bigger. You are thinking about how to make it better — not just for your own back pocket, but for your team, your customers, your partners.
And the hardest truth: you cannot rely on anyone else. It is you versus you. You need to take the steering wheel and drive and implement. Nobody is coming to save you.
Fear as Fuel
I will be honest about something most founders will not admit: I operate from fear.
I think fear is a real thing, and it is good to understand what it is and how to use it to your advantage. It is very taxing to operate in that state, but when channelled right, it is dangerously powerful.
I wish I had one hundred percent confidence in everything. But life is a journey, and one thing I have come to realise is that even the best founders and operators have their quirks. It is all normal and part of the game. The Instagram version of entrepreneurship is all confidence and certainty. The real version is fear channelled into forward motion.
Energy Creates Energy
Four businesses. Three young kids. People ask how I manage it all.
You try to implement your own systems, but my main thing is to work in areas that bring me energy. You cannot always have it that way, but energy creates energy. Work on the things you want to work on.
Keep your finger on the pulse though, which sometimes means working on the things you do not necessarily want to do. Nobody likes admin or complaints. But understanding it and giving it attention provides the feedback I need. That feedback loop is what stops you from building in a bubble.
The Introvert Who Lights Up the Room
Here is something people do not expect: I am a generally anxious person. I find myself introverted. Yet when I am in the zone, I can light up the room and somehow be the extrovert.
In all my previous sales jobs, I was laser-focused on the outcome — the result for the customer and my team. That was quickly identified by my peers, and I would always end up in management positions. In hindsight, it was wearing that management and people hat early on that proved extremely beneficial. Leadership found me because I was already doing it.
Does the Recognition Feel Real?
Obviously recognition feels good. We all want to feel significant in some way. But honestly? It is straight back to work. That is the difference between chasing status and chasing the thing itself.
What I Would Tell My Younger Self
You had what it takes. Do not compare. Even the greatest founders have not got it all worked out. That is half the secret.
Just put in the work every day and it all compounds. No one can catch you when you have done so much for so long.
The Finish Line That Does Not Exist
For me, I have a growth mindset, so I do not think it ever stops. Growth equals innovation plus marketing. Innovating and marketing are like hobbies to me, so I am screwed — I will be building and creating forever.
And honestly, I would not have it any other way.