Phillip Kuoch is the CEO & Creative Director at Goldeluck’s, a business he started back in 2015, which is now franchised across three locations in Melbourne.
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1) To kick things off, could you tell us a little about your career background and current role?
Before Goldeluck’s, I was studying at university doing a journalism & marketing degree, however during my last year I had to defer.
My parents had a dream to open up a business, however when the time came, my dad’s arthritis worsened and my parents were no longer able to go ahead with the business.
This is when I made an executive decision to defer the last year of my degree and instead, take on the responsibility of running an entire business, AKA Goldeluck’s.
2) What does a day in the life look like for you? Can you take us through a recent workday?
My day always starts with a double shot long black coffee (this is a non-negotiable). Then I’ll catch up with all team members (who are currently working remotely) to assign any required tasks.
I’ll spend the rest of the morning answering customer phone calls and responding on our live chat, catching up on work emails and other nitty gritty biz things.
After lunch, I usually begin working on putting in actions to achieve any existing goals that we have set in motion for the business, otherwise I’ll actively start a planning session and focus on where I want to take the business next (it’s always good to be working on something and moving forward!).
Just before the work day finishes, I touch in with our retail stores to make sure everything is A-OK. After work, I head to the gym to do some group training. Once I get home, I’ll begin cooking myself a nice healthy meal for dinner
Typically, I’ll end the day with watching an easy to watch show like Schnitt’s Creek. And as I’m falling asleep, I put on a podcast to sleep
3) Does your current role allow for flexible or remote working? If so, how does that fit into your life and routine?
Yes, my current role does allow for flexible and remote working.
It works quite well for me as I like to take advantage of the flexibility, by going to appointments during the day when most other people are at work, and by doing this it also allows me to get all of my daily errands done more efficiently.
4) What does work-life balance mean to you and how do you work to achieve that goal?
For me, work-life balance means having time to take care of myself, as well as setting aside valuable time to spend time with my loved ones.
I know that I personally need to slow down sometimes with my work and I have to actively do this by setting myself an internal trigger warning.
I notice that an appropriate balance isn’t being met when I find myself not taking care of my personal needs, or when I find myself saying no more often than yes, to spending time with my partner, friends or family.
5) In the past 12 months, have you started or stopped any routines or habits to change your life?
One of the most recent and positive life changing decisions I’ve made is when I decided to switch off most notifications on my phone, so that I no longer receive alerts about emails or social media, which I would usually find really distracting.
I also have a personal challenge for myself where if I’m spending time with someone, I’ll try to not touch my phone at any cost, so that I am able to spend some really valuable and quality time with the person/people I’m hanging out with.
6) Do you have any favourite books, podcasts or newsletters that you’d like to recommend?
Other than my own podcast – Lemon – I listen to Just the Gist, The Squiz, 7am, The Daily and Business Wars.
7) Are there any products, gadgets or apps that you can’t live without?
Being a tech geek and entrepreneur, I’m currently obsessed with my virtual reality headset. I love speculating how this device is going to change the way we do things in the future.
I’ve been getting a lot of joy going to the cinema with my friends virtually during lockdowns.
8) If you could read an interview about work-life balance by anyone, who would that be?
Being a big Apple fan boy, I’d love to get inside the head of Tim Cook and learn how he juggles so many moving parts in Apple whilst also trying to juggle family life.
9) Do you have any last thoughts on work, life or balance that you’d like to share with our readers?
One of the most valuable insights that I’d like to share to fellow entrepreneurs and current nad future business owners, is that you must keep setting goals.
You must continually adapt to the ever changing environment and you must keep brainstorming ways in which you can keep your customers coming back.
Once you stop innovating, they’ll start looking for the next best thing. As much as I condone hard work, balance is key.
If you don’t enjoy yourself and give yourself some time to step back with some TLC during the process, you’ll burn out, with the potential for resentment and the prevention of ongoing success.
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