Ranked #3 in Australia's top 50 e-commerce leaders, Nicola Clement has navigated a non-linear career across retail, aviation, fashion, and beauty—scaling online revenue from $250M to over $800M at Myer during COVID while leading 75+ direct reports. But her real expertise lies in a radical idea: building sustainable competitive advantages by thinking in decades, not quarters, and proving that human-centered leadership actually drives shareholder value.

In this conversation, we explore why fundamental business transformation takes 3–5 years to stick, how to make the business case for customer and employee-first strategies to skeptical boards, and why authenticity isn't a weakness—it's your competitive edge. Nicola shares her innovation rocket framework for solving customer problems, reveals the hidden cost of quarterly obsession, and offers brutally honest advice for startups tempted by vaporware over transparency.

• How to build durable competitive advantages and sustainable profit by planning for decades, not quarters
• How to structure a human-centered business case that convinces skeptical boards and delivers 10x ROI
• The innovation rocket framework: turning customer data into prioritized solutions through ideation, hypothesis, and testing
• Why authentic leadership inspires teams to execute hard decisions, even uncomfortable short-term pivots
• Practical guidance for startups: transparency beats vaporware; co-development wins over overselling MVPs

• The cost of short-termism: why vanity metrics and quarterly focus prevent real organizational change
• Long-term thinking in practice: the horizon framework and aligning teams around decades-long vision
• Leading through crisis: balancing 10,000 jobs during COVID while building long-term roadmaps
• From zoology to e-commerce: the non-linear career path and why curiosity beats expertise
• Human-centered design meets profitability: Tony Hsieh, customer journey mapping, and the red chair concept
• Authenticity vs. commercial effectiveness: delivering your truth with clarity, data, and emotional connection
• Building cultures where people can be themselves: why diversity of thought drives better outcomes

Nicola Clement is Chief Experience Officer and e-commerce transformation leader with 23+ years driving digital and retail innovation across airlines, fashion, outdoor retail, department stores, and beauty. Ranked #3 in Australia's Top 50 E-commerce Leaders and a global Top 50 CX Influencer. Recently completed her Executive MBA at the University of Oxford's Saïd Business School.

Connect with Nicola Clement on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolaclement/

• Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug
• Delivering Happiness by Tony Hsieh
• Radical Candor by Kim Scott
• Prime Minister (Documentary featuring Jacinda Ardern)

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Every week, your host Florian Haufe dives deep into conversations with visionary global leaders to bring you insights, inspiration, and the real stories behind success.

#BusinessUnbound #Podcast #Leadership #Ecommerce #CustomerCentric #AuthenticLeadership

Completing a PhD while working full-time in top-tier consulting sounds impossible. Transitioning from advisory to a CFO role at a private equity-backed company seems equally daunting. Dr. Raphael Ruess did both, and his journey reveals what happens when ambition meets discipline, curiosity meets execution, and consulting expertise meets operational leadership.

In this conversation, Raphael, CFO at a private equity-backed portfolio company and former AlixPartners consultant, shares the real story behind his unconventional career path.

From navigating high-pressure M&A consulting while completing a PhD to making the leap some consultants dream of (moving from recommending strategies to owning the outcome as a CFO) this episode of Business Unbound decodes what it truly takes to transition from consulting to industry and create sustainable value in a PE-backed environment.

• How to complete a PhD while working full-time through consistency, strategic time management, and reaching a "point of no return"
• Why transitioning from consultant to operator requires unlearning consulting instincts and prioritizing trust-building over quick wins
• The real consulting skills that transfer to operational roles: adaptability, stakeholder management, and willingness to roll up your sleeves
• How private equity creates value through buy-and-build strategies, digitization, and unlocking synergies across portfolio companies
• Why people skills matter more than technical expertise when becoming a CFO in an SME environment

• Lifelong learning and why Raphael chose a PhD over certifications to maintain intellectual freedom
• AlixPartners' diamond structure and how senior environments accelerate professional development
• The consulting toolkit: what transfers to operational roles and what needs to be unlearned
• How to position yourself for PE CFO roles: gain PMI experience, seek leadership opportunities, embrace tough situations
• Value creation in practice: digitizing processes, implementing CRM systems, prioritizing based on impact and time-to-value
• Leadership lessons: motivating operational teams by showing the bigger picture and aligning interests
• The Sunday evening test: how you feel about Monday reveals everything about your career path

Dr. Raphael Ruess is CFO at a private equity-backed portfolio company with a track record of driving value creation and operational transformation. Raphael began at EY in transaction advisory before moving to AlixPartners, working on high-stakes M&A engagements. While working full-time in consulting, he completed a PhD. He then transitioned to operational leadership as CFO.

Learn more about Raphael

Connect with Raphael on LinkedIn

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Every week, host Florian Haufe dives deep into conversations with visionary global leaders to bring you insights, inspiration, and the real stories behind success.

Connect with Florian Haufe on LinkedIn

#BusinessUnbound #leadership #consulting #privateequity #CFO #careeradvice #PhD #AlixPartners #MBA

When your business is bleeding cash and trust is eroding, what does a CEO with three decades of experience actually do?

In this conversation, James Lindstrom, former CEO of Integrated Electrical Services and Providence Service Corporation and now founder of Verdian Insights, opens his real playbook for rescuing distressed companies and building durable compounding machines. From simplifying overgrown organizations and restoring cash discipline to mastering capital allocation and acquiring overlooked assets in governance, risk, and compliance, James explains how he thinks as both an operator and an investor.

If you are running a struggling business, considering acquisitions as your next chapter, or want to think like a true owner, this episode shows how to turn it around with clarity, focus, and patience.

• How James diagnoses a struggling business, what he cuts first, and where he insists on reinvesting for the long term.
• The four-pillar framework of strategy, operations, capital allocation, and governance that underpins every successful company he has led.
• How to balance urgent turnaround moves with building a business that compounds value over a decade, not just one fund cycle.
• What makes a company worth buying, from high-quality recurring revenue to messy but fixable platforms that others avoid.
• Practical advice for executives who want to leave corporate roles and become true owners and business builders.

• Early lessons from reading annual reports as a teenager, investment banking at First Boston, and becoming a bank CFO at twenty-eight.
• Why culture beats spreadsheets, and how plant safety boards reveal more about customer quality than any model.
• Inside the IES and Providence turnarounds
• Applying the Lindy principle to business, and why patience and holding great companies for a decade can create outsized outcomes.
• How James underwrites acquisitions
• Operational improvement playbooks

James Lindstrom is a seasoned CEO and investor with over thirty years of experience transforming complex businesses through strategic turnarounds and acquisitions. He led full financial and strategic recoveries at Integrated Electrical Services and Providence Service Corporation, a global services holding company with nearly two billion dollars in revenue. Today, he is the founder of Verdian Insights, focused on acquiring and growing governance, risk, and compliance businesses across training, media, events, and membership.

More about James:
https://businessunbound.co/guest/james-lindstrom/

Follow James Lindstrom on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-l-5a20a168/

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Follow us on social media: https://linktr.ee/businessunbound

Verdian Insights: https://verdianinsights.com/
The Outsiders by Will Thorndike

Every week, your host, Florian Haufe, dives deep into conversations with visionary global leaders to bring you insights, inspiration, and the real stories behind success.

#BusinessUnbound #leadership #turnaround #GRC #businessstrategy #entrepreneurship #MergersAndAcquisitions #CEOinsights