Rebecca (00:02.342)
Welcome to another episode of the Champagne Lounge podcast. Today I'm joined by the wonderful Amy Faulkner. Welcome to the show, Amy.
Amy Faulkner (00:10.318)
Thank you for having me, Rebecca.
Rebecca (00:12.55)
So you and I have been in each other's orbits for a number of years in, I'm going to say our big corporate businesses, right? Your marketing agency, my video production company, been in each other's orbits for a while, but you've only been in my orbit most recently in the champagne lounge sphere for the last couple of months, I'm going to say. And we reconnected over your new business because you split your time now between the UK and Australia. Like I'm going to say planning to live the dream between two summers each year.
Amy Faulkner (00:33.838)
Mm.
Rebecca (00:42.342)
Give us a bit of a background as to what your life is like at the moment and why you split it between two countries and what the goal is for you in doing that.
Amy Faulkner (00:43.214)
Yeah.
Amy Faulkner (00:54.382)
Yeah, definitely. Gosh, what's life like at the moment? It definitely feels like a world of spinning plates, continuous chaos. But yeah, I guess, not to dissimilar to yourself, Alex and I came over to Australia in 2013, did the classic, we'll come for a year or so, get the visa. And before you know it, two, three years have passed, you're on the PR trail, you're on citizenship trail.
Rebecca (01:00.678)
-huh.
Amy Faulkner (01:21.838)
and during that time, I had taken the leap to set up, brand consultancy starts of a, and I think a key driver, for that, not just that desire to yes, have my own business was that flexibility to think, you know, can we, yeah, can we have the best of both worlds? Can we be on both sides of the pond or can we, you know, live and work remotely? And what does that look like? And I remember at the time, you know, Alex, particularly
my husband, he was restricted by the 20 days holiday as well at the company that he was working for. So when you are in Australia and perhaps looking to go back, no, exactly. So there was a few things like that and we test drove it, if you will, in 2019. And that was led by some key family occasions, weddings, big birthdays that we felt we couldn't miss.
Rebecca (02:00.902)
the standard corporate holiday, you know, allowance, not great, not great.
Amy Faulkner (02:21.326)
And yeah, we were there for sort of three to four months and kept things working. And then we got stuck in the obviously trapped in Australia for two years for COVID. So that put the brakes on that idea. And then we're fortunate to welcome our son into the world in 2021. And then, yeah, in 2022, we just felt, okay, we need to go and do a bit of a stint back, back in the UK, reconnect with family and friends over
Rebecca (02:32.198)
Yeah.
Amy Faulkner (02:49.326)
after yes, the COVID era particularly. And yeah, so that was a lot of our drivers of trying to live both worlds. And it was through that process when we went back in 2022 that we launched the Card Games, which is then more of a product -based business rather than our service base to again, just give us different options, if you will.
Rebecca (03:14.15)
Yeah. And I love, I love that you've moved into that product space. The space for me personally, actually is quite a scary one. Like the outlay of product, the outlay of design and, and, you know, all the logistics involved in a product based business is, is not my jam, but I am always inspired by people that go and create something physical to, to put out into the world. And I love that we've reconnected over that. So the card game is real conversations, really good conversations, I should say. And,
Amy Faulkner (03:40.91)
Mm -hmm.
Rebecca (03:44.166)
I absolutely adore it to the point that I now use the cards as part of my dinner party icebreakers. I think they're fantastic. So for anyone that hasn't heard of really good conversations, like where did the card game come from and why is it a card game and why would people want a deck of them?
Amy Faulkner (04:01.006)
Absolutely. Well, the first, I guess, inspiration was back in 2009 after my husband's grandfather passed away. And he, you know, passed away in his nineties. He'd been, you know, part of the war, lived in the North of England in Leeds. And whether we're just getting more sentimental in our older years as well, Alex and I, you know, we had the realisation of, gosh, when these people, those family members or friends pass on,
you don't get the chance to ask the questions anymore. You don't hear the stories. And I think, you know, we're probably all run out of each other's lives. yeah, I'm busy here and that. And you're having quick snippet of conversations with people. You do think...
Rebecca (04:31.91)
Yeah.
Rebecca (04:42.918)
And most of the time those conversations are like, how are you going? yeah, fine. You know, was it all same old, same old? Like you never actually go into those deep conversations. Yeah.
Amy Faulkner (04:46.798)
Exactly. Definitely.
Amy Faulkner (04:54.03)
Absolutely. And I think certainly coming through that COVID era when we started to develop the concept a little bit further at that time, you know, it was like every conversation you had was about COVID or then it was about, you know, the energy crisis. And it just felt like, gosh, you know, every time you speak to someone it's doom and gloom and et cetera. So we started developing sort of the idea and initially...
Rebecca (05:12.39)
Yeah.
Amy Faulkner (05:17.87)
we were just gonna do a sort of a personal project and do a video, if you will, time capsule with each of our family members. And yeah, ask all of the questions and hear the stories because I think we're all guilty of thinking that particularly our parents and such, well, they didn't have a life before us. And now that we've got a little boy in the world, you're like.
We absolutely have had a life before him and it was awesome and it's been awesome and it's yeah, made us who we are. So it kicked off with Alex firstly doing a bit of an interview video with his mom and he got off the call and he was like, I've had such a great conversation with mom. I heard all about like, you know, the staff in her first place of work who as she'd walk past the desk would, you know, slap her ass and things.
and just stuff that would not happen obviously in today's working world. And he had this great conversation, they videoed it, but he said, I'm exhausted because he'd obviously asked all of the questions in a sort of a slightly less natural format, if you will. So in reality, no other family members got, you know, he never got round to doing the other ones. Exactly.
Rebecca (06:25.542)
Yeah.
Rebecca (06:31.238)
This is too much of a big job.
Amy Faulkner (06:34.702)
Also, yeah, you'd send them the questions. come on, can we do this? And then, yeah, everyone gets busy. So as we brainstormed on some of our walks and talks at the time, we were like, what is literally no barrier to entry? You don't need technology. If anything, we actually all need to put our phones down. And, you know, we all are guilty of it. You have your phone there on the dinner table. You see people in restaurants and they're staring at the phones. Yeah.
Rebecca (06:59.27)
that kills me. Amy, that kills me. But just families sitting around a dinner table in a restaurant, just all looking at their devices. It's heartbreaking. Yeah.
Amy Faulkner (07:07.694)
Absolutely. And it's even worse when you see that the person as well, like is holding their phone up. So it's like in front of the face of the other person. It's just like, my goodness. Yeah.
Rebecca (07:17.19)
Yeah, I feel like why are you out spending money to just not talk to each other and socialize? I'm baffling.
Amy Faulkner (07:24.686)
Absolutely. So we just decide, let's strip it back. You know, we don't actually want this to be a technology project. We don't actually want this to be a product that is reliant on technology and what is it in its simplest form, which then, yes, the pack of cards, that tangible item, you know, which actually, yes, I think there's something about that touching feeling, seeing, feeling engaged in something that adds to the experience for sure.
Rebecca (07:53.99)
massively, like where I am, where I live in Mudgee, like we have, we've got two lounge rooms, we're lucky enough to have two in our home. One's got the TV and one's the room that we have guests in, where there's no technology in it. And we've got board games and we bring them out and there's card games. And it is such a different way of being and doing and hanging out with people when you've got something a bit more tactile and conversation flows, rather than falling into that stint of watching the TV and more often than not,
Amy Faulkner (08:06.638)
Nice.
Rebecca (08:23.11)
Most people are scrolling on their phones whilst watching TV, right? Like you're never actually fully engaged in it. So I think, you know, I'm all for the tactile piece. It's the reason I run the local magazine too. I'm a big believer that if you've got something tactile, it forms a memory, a subconscious memory of you holding it and doing it and doing the thing. So, you know, you've done that and I know that conversations are so important. You know, it's one of the cause of the champagne lounge is those conversations.
Amy Faulkner (08:26.83)
Absolutely.
Rebecca (08:50.726)
What have you heard from people that have bought those texts of cards in terms of the experience that they've had with their family and friends having conversations as a result of being prompted with this deck of cards?
Amy Faulkner (08:50.926)
Mm.
Amy Faulkner (09:02.83)
Definitely. Well, I'd say our best seller is our kids pack. And we get some fantastic, both reviews online, but actual emails directly through. And people saying, you know, my little one asks to play this before bedtime. And we now have this at the family dinner table as well. So just, it's really lovely to hear people, how they're engaging, you know, engaging with them.
So definitely on the kids, we've had some funny ones. I remember a friend of ours took the yellow pack, which I say is the more broad topics and broad conversations. He took that on a date. So he was saying that, you know, it was a first date. Someone obviously he'd met on one of the apps and he said, you know, the conversation was getting a bit, a little bit dry. So yeah, he pulled out the pack of cards and he said, it absolutely turned the date around.
Rebecca (09:42.246)
Wow. Cool.
Rebecca (09:58.118)
Amazing.
Amy Faulkner (09:59.054)
I think even in there is one that's described your first kiss. Obviously it's up to you if you want to ask that. But then he said, particularly when that question came up, you know, there on a first date, he said, there was an element of, you know, a flirty sort of vibe then started to develop. So that's been super cool. And actually, one which was really great here was a charitable organisation in the UK that deal with adolescents that have been through trauma.
in their life and they have a lot of carers that obviously work with these individuals. And so they bought a few packs to give to their carers. And I said, please, you know, love to hear how that goes, what sort of response you get. And yeah, he followed up on email and just said, you know, we've just started testing them. And particularly we've seen such sort of, shall we say, leaps from a particular individual that was very, you know, almost nonverbal.
would not communicate and it's really, it broke down that barrier as well. So yeah, we've had really awesome feedback so far.
Rebecca (11:04.838)
That's amazing.
Yeah, there really is such power in conversations away from technology or just conversations in general, right? Like you came into my orbit and came to dinner at my home as part of the Business Uncorked series that I run where I open my home and invite eight regional business women to come into my home and have dinner and have a bit of a chat. You know, we were talking on your podcast earlier this morning when we were recording these shows.
Amy Faulkner (11:15.278)
idea.
Mm.
Rebecca (11:36.902)
that, you know, that's not the norm for everyone. It can be quite scary to jump in and, and be in an environment like that and have conversations like that. So obviously the card game breaks the ice for the average conversation and the average person, but going into a room and doing it differently is somewhat scarier, right? Like what was going through your head? Why did you say yes to coming and having dinner in, you know, this lady's house that you've met online and had connections with virtually for a number of years.
Amy Faulkner (11:54.542)
Yep.
Rebecca (12:05.861)
to have dinner with a whole heap of strangers. Like what was it about that that you were like, I'm going to give it a go.
Amy Faulkner (12:12.302)
Absolutely. I probably hadn't really, I hadn't really considered it in great length. I think certainly, you know, after connecting with you and having, you know, just such a uplifting conversation, I'm like, of course I'd love to go out to Rebecca's house. So probably you were certainly that, that draw card, if you will. And then it was probably only as I got out the Uber and I was walking to your front door thinking, I don't even know if I'm at the right place. I'm about to...
Rebecca (12:29.862)
Yeah.
Rebecca (12:37.734)
Haha, yeah.
Amy Faulkner (12:39.054)
And in your email, I think you'd actually put, you know, our door will be open, so just walk on in. So literally, as I was pushing your door that was unlocked, I'm thinking, this might not be the right house. I could just be going into someone else's house here. So I actually hadn't really even considered the fact that other people that I didn't know would be there really. And I think it wasn't until they started walking through the door and you say, yeah, I actually don't know these people.
Rebecca (12:44.166)
Yep.
Rebecca (13:07.302)
Yeah.
Amy Faulkner (13:08.142)
And I am, yeah, I am curious. I am fascinated in, you know, in people and what they do, what their journeys are. So to an extent, I do find it quite natural to then, you know, ask people, well, what do you do and how have you got here, et cetera. So it didn't really phase me. But I really, I think I just was intrigued to, yeah, come into the unknown. I didn't really know exactly what to expect. And I thought, well, sod it, here we go.
Rebecca (13:34.694)
Here we go, yeah. Because such wonderful things can come out of a conversation that you never know where it's gonna end up or the background or the connections that people have had or can connect you with or the doors that may open. So on all conversations, on the topic of conversation, I should say, what's been your most inspiring conversation that you've had that's had a most profound impact on the way you do life?
Amy Faulkner (14:00.974)
Huh?
Ooh, that's interesting.
what is the way I do life? Goodness, that is a very great question actually for business. And I'm sure there really will have been so many sort of people along the paths and along the journeys. You're making me just think of all little nuggets. And I'm trying to think if there's been one that's been a real profound, and I'm sure there is, and now my mind's gone completely blank, but as a complete random one, something I'd say I'd stopped doing.
Rebecca (14:10.886)
or business, but you know, life, you know, the conversations, yeah.
Amy Faulkner (14:36.91)
is a number of years ago when I went to visit my grandma in the care home and she had sort of Alzheimer's and dementia. And I'll never forget me showing her, you know, my Fitbit watch at the time, because it was often challenging to talk about certain topics and things because she still had a lot of her, you know, faculties there. And so she was aware she was in a care home. So conversation topics, to be honest, I wish we had launched this when she was still alive, I've got to say.
Anyway, I'm showing my watch grandma, this is a Fitbit, and it tracks your steps and it can tell me how many steps you've done. And she's like, what do you wanna know that for? And I'm thinking, well, yeah. And then I'm showing at the time, like one of the running apps and I said, grandma, I did a run this morning around the village. Look here, look, I show you, it tracks it and you can see where I've been. And there's all the data. And she was like, well, you know where you went, you ran it.
And you're like, exactly. And you know, here she is mid 80s. And you think, and at this time I thought, God, yeah, we are living in a world where we have become so, yeah, relying on technology and so many different aspects of life and we're tracking all of this stuff. What's the point? And I remember after that, and I remember I think the screen slightly cracked on the Fitbit and I got sick of charging it all the time. And I thought, sod it, I'm done with it.
Rebecca (15:35.366)
So simple answer, don't they? Just why? Why? Yeah.
Rebecca (15:54.374)
Yeah.
Amy Faulkner (16:04.622)
So I don't have that type of a watch anymore. And I think, yeah, perhaps if I think of a lesson from there, is that trying to live a bit more, you know, simplistically and not feeling, you know, connected and attached to all this text.
Rebecca (16:22.15)
I love that. It's so because we are, we are connected in so many ways when actually when you were saying that you're thinking, you know, what is the point? Like I'm going, I'm fully, I'm, I'm in agreement with your grandma. Just sure. Why? Who else needs to know that? No one's no one. I'm not showing the data to anyone. You know, you're not doing any of that. It's just all these pressures we put on ourselves to, you know, track this and be part of that. And
Amy Faulkner (16:26.03)
Mm.
Amy Faulkner (16:36.014)
Yeah
Rebecca (16:50.982)
Interesting living a more simple life. So, you know, unplugging and having those real raw conversations where it's almost a worry free situation, isn't it? It's just that conversation. Yeah, that's awesome. So Amy, you're a new member of the Champagne Lounge. We've only, as we've mentioned a couple of times in the show, connected properly in the last couple of months. And we've been really active in some of our virtual meetups and having heaps of conversations with women all across Australia.
Amy Faulkner (16:54.222)
Yeah
Amy Faulkner (17:00.686)
Yes.
Amy Faulkner (17:12.43)
Hmm?
Rebecca (17:18.822)
Like what has that meant for you being able to tap into women from all over the country, from all walks of life and business, sort of size and breadth and depth? What has the Champagne Lounge community meant for you in the last couple of months?
Amy Faulkner (17:32.046)
I think it's just been a great opportunity to almost like pause on my own, what's going on in my world, you know, my own busy life, busy schedule for that sort of hour, particularly when we jump in for the Monday morning or the Wednesday calls, to almost just forget all of that and literally, yeah, hear what other people are doing, meet some new people and...
Yeah, as I said before, I'm a really curious person. So I just love hearing other people's stories and what they're up to. So I think definitely it's almost like, yeah, just jumping into this little, I don't want to say tropical island, desert island, you know, just this other little world for just a snippet where you can just forget about everything else you've got going on. And yeah, often I've learned, you'll just learn little nuggets. You know, I don't come in my, for myself personally, I don't come with an agenda in mind, you know.
I know a lot of people live by using your time efficiently at every moment. And if it's not a revenue generating activity, then you shouldn't be doing it, et cetera. I don't really live by that thinking. So for me, it is coming just, no agenda, literally jumping on and thinking, well, who's going to be there today and seeing what questions or topics might come up, really.
Rebecca (18:51.654)
I love that. And yeah, you're right. There is no agenda. You don't come with an agenda, but there is none. There's none to follow, which I think is the part of the joy of free flowing conversation and picking up those golden nuggets where you can. And, you know, the beauty of this conversation, you and I could chat about conversations and connection for hours. Like we really, we really could, you know, because there's power in them and just the fluidity of them. So I think if you're listening to this show, you know, we'll make sure we link.
Amy Faulkner (18:56.366)
Yeah.
Amy Faulkner (19:09.934)
Yes.
Rebecca (19:19.846)
the really good conversations deck of cards into the show notes. You can go have a look at those. Highly recommend getting your hands on a set and just having those conversations away from technology and just broadening those, those connections with the family and friends and even, you know, colleagues and team members if you have them. So Amy, thank you so much for coming on the show and sharing your journey and for having an equal passion for me as I do for conversation and just the art of having a really good one. It's been awesome.
Amy Faulkner (19:50.254)
Thank you so much for having me. I've loved chatting to you.
