The Fun Side Of Business
Let’s keep it real, business life isn’t all boring meetings and stiff suits. Behind the polished pitches and fancy titles is a whole other story!
We’re talking about the real stories, the unfiltered, uncut moments you won’t find in any polished promo video.
Behind every brand is a story—unexpected, totally entertaining, and 100% human. So here’s to the real ones: the dreamers, the grinders, the risk-takers.
Business life? It’s not what you think. It’s way more fun.
The Fun Side Of Business
IT Unseen: Where Quiet Wins Make Big Impact
This episode is only available to subscribers.
The Fun Side Of Business - The Extra Slice
Exclusive access to premium content!Ever heard someone say IT is boring? We call nonsense on that. Sure, a lot of the biggest wins in tech don’t come with fireworks—they’re invisible, subtle, and easy to miss—but that’s kind of the point.
When Gary joined us, he showed exactly why. He’s the kind of founder who can jump in and fix a sticky technical issue one minute and then keep a breakfast networking crowd engaged the next. We dig into the gap between what people think IT is and what it’s actually like: why calm delivery can pack more authority than chest-thumping, how founders can be the face of the business without giving up their geek cred, and why communication is every bit as important as code.
We also get real about what people find “exciting.” Saving thousands on tax? But those quiet, behind-the-scenes saves are exactly where trust gets built. Gary’s background and his easy going energy say a lot about credibility, confidence, and care.
Good morning and welcome to the extra slides. Good morning there. Slice, slice, slice, slice.
SPEAKER_02:Morning.
SPEAKER_01:How are you?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, good.
SPEAKER_01:You're loving the extra slides.
SPEAKER_02:I think my levels might be too high. I'm just seeing literally like the graphic equalizer going boing, boing, boing, boing.
SPEAKER_01:You sound very loud.
SPEAKER_02:I do sound a bit loud.
SPEAKER_01:Just excited.
SPEAKER_02:It is excitement. I mean, we've had an IT person in what's not to be excited about.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, that wasn't really my favourite subject. I like Gary, but the IT side of it, you oh you no. No.
SPEAKER_02:I th uh it's really difficult to make IT sound interesting.
SPEAKER_01:But you say that about accountancy.
SPEAKER_02:It's really difficult to make accountancy sound interesting. Yeah, but there's a big difference, I think. Accountancy, someone can say someone has to spend five grand in tax, accountant comes and makes it two grand.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Real term. An IT person sees a broke computer, then fixes it. Yeah. And they say, I could have just bought another one.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. That's true. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:But someone can't change a tax bill from five grand to two unless they know what they're doing.
SPEAKER_01:I think because this is the second IT guy we've had on, isn't it? And as much as we say, oh, IT people are certain types of people, they're the frontmen of the of the company.
SPEAKER_02:They're definitely more BDMs, I think.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Yeah. They're definitely not. As much as they're very technical minded.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, but you don't know because you don't test them. It's it's probably similar.
SPEAKER_01:Imagine me asking something like that.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, but you you but you think of like George Pennell, right? Yes. But when the when people hear this, George will be an episode, he'll already be there, right? So you think about George Pennell, you ask him a cleaning question when he was in year one, year two of his business.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:He would have asked the cleaning operative from Base Point and gone, yeah, I use pink spray for this. No, you can't do that, it's got bleach in it. So yeah, I I mean I'm guessing ultimately they have to have some knowledge, but I guess they don't have to be expert expert because they've got a team.
SPEAKER_01:No, that's true.
SPEAKER_02:Don't get me wrong, I think that Gary obviously clearly is an expert expert because as I just said, his senior engineer's off, so he's covering for it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, he's very hands-on.
SPEAKER_02:But And if you hear his history, oh he knew more than the teachers aged from like 11.
SPEAKER_01:Oh gosh, yeah. I didn't know that bit. I I knew he'd been in IT because he's done a presentation once at a networking breakfast.
SPEAKER_02:Yep.
SPEAKER_01:A great presentation. So I knew a little bit about his background and Are you is this just for the purposes of the listeners?
SPEAKER_02:You know I was there, right? When Gary did a presentation.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I'm just letting people know because all the listeners weren't there. They should be the next one. They should be the next one. Everyone come along to the breakfast.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:But no, when he done his presentation, yeah, he spoke briefly, didn't he, about his, but not he didn't go into as much depth as what he's just done.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, true. Okay, so come on then. What do you think of Gary as a guest?
SPEAKER_01:Brilliant.
SPEAKER_02:Okay.
SPEAKER_01:That's always my answer. That's it.
SPEAKER_02:You're just gonna say everyone is brilliant, right? Because there's no way you could ever criticise anyone.
SPEAKER_01:I will if the time comes.
SPEAKER_02:Like who?
SPEAKER_01:Well, I don't know, I've not had to yet.
SPEAKER_02:Well, because you never will.
SPEAKER_01:Alright, well, when I interview you, when I interview you and we do your extra slice, I'll criticize you.
SPEAKER_02:That's fine. You can do that. It's fine, you can do that.
SPEAKER_01:Or myself. But no, I would do that.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, we could do your extra slice.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I'd criticize me.
SPEAKER_02:I'm gonna criticize you.
SPEAKER_01:You do every day.
SPEAKER_02:No, I generally just take this back as that offhand comment just went in there and went, I'll just slip that one. I criticise you every day.
SPEAKER_01:Every day.
SPEAKER_02:Every day I do not criticize you. Every day I encourage you.
SPEAKER_01:But no, what did you think of Gary? Because I know I've known him a little bit longer than you have. What did you uh Actually?
SPEAKER_02:I'm gonna go and say something negative. Oh. So I thought that What's the best way to put it? So Gary I've seen, and I've thought he's very I mean, it may just be because obviously you see him in networking breakfast and what have you, but I thought he was more energetic and more enthusiastic. Yeah. And today I thought he was a bit subdued.
SPEAKER_01:Nerves.
SPEAKER_02:Maybe.
SPEAKER_01:Now he doesn't get nervous.
SPEAKER_02:But it was it was quite calm. You know, everything was there was nothing that he didn't talk about with his passion and whatever, but it was quite calm, and I thought he'd be more up and bouncing about about it.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, maybe I don't know.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, but you can't agree with that, right? I'm not gonna agree with that.
SPEAKER_01:Now you're torn because you're like negative. I have got a negative.
SPEAKER_02:Go on then.
SPEAKER_01:I have got one. He was too nice. He only listened to our podcast a few days ago.
SPEAKER_02:True.
SPEAKER_01:That's my negative. And he binged him. No, but in in I'm glad that he binged him and he's now fully up to date.
SPEAKER_02:It was nice. Did you see that by the way? That he did some like pod drops.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. To prove he had to.
SPEAKER_03:During James's one.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. During Craig's one.
SPEAKER_03:When Craig said this, let me touch back on what Craig said and give a bit more. So no.
SPEAKER_01:So as much as yeah, that is probably he only just listened, but he has listened.
SPEAKER_02:He has listened.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. That's my negative. See? You got one out of me.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, but that's so And now I feel like it's such a Yeah, but that's not because you're gonna kind of like, oh what was it? Oh, I think he was too informative, he was too knowledgeable, he knew too much.
SPEAKER_01:You'd only be like nasty if I need to be.
SPEAKER_02:But yeah, but never recorded.
unknown:I never recorded.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, if I recorded some of the terms you're nasty, people would just think that I've like AI'd a voice changer or something to go. Everyone would look at it. Obviously, that wasn't real Gemma.
SPEAKER_00:No way.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:It doesn't happen often.
SPEAKER_02:By the way, if anyone has listened to this and they think, I wonder if Gem's ever been mean about me, yes. Yes, she has.
SPEAKER_00:All eyes.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, she has. Okay, alright, so give Gary a score. Right, but hang on a sec. We'll think of our new scoring system for today.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, so these I don't know what obviously we don't know what all of these are going out in, but we have gone from scoring people from one to ten.
SPEAKER_02:Yep.
SPEAKER_01:Five stars.
SPEAKER_02:Uh stars, naught to fifty.
SPEAKER_01:Not to fifty, pizza slices. Yep, pizza toppings. Pizza toppings.
SPEAKER_02:Pizza toppings and slices. And sizes.
SPEAKER_01:As this is extra slice, what else can you a cake.
SPEAKER_02:You can slice a cake. Alright, so alright, here's a good one then. How many slices is in the Gary Rayner cake?
SPEAKER_01:Oh I don't know.
SPEAKER_02:Ah.
SPEAKER_01:Okay.
SPEAKER_02:Come on.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, a big family cake.
SPEAKER_02:No, no, no, no, no, no. You don't have to mention the size of the cake. I just need to know how many slices are in the cake.
SPEAKER_01:Oh. Twelve.
SPEAKER_02:A twelve slice cake? Well. Okay. And what kind of cake is it?
SPEAKER_01:Carrot cake.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, so he's a 12-sliced carrot cake.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, no one knows if I like carrot cake.
SPEAKER_02:Extra walnuts.
SPEAKER_01:Gary's gonna have to bring me a carrot cake, to see.
SPEAKER_02:He's gonna have to bring you a carrot cake and then sit and watch you a slice it to work out like if he brings a really small one, can you get it into 12? Or is a real family one? Yeah, I suppose if it's like a giant family one. The best part is we're now making the signs for what size this cake is and forgetting that we're on an audio podcast. I want to see. What are you going with? Okay, I would go with I wanna I wanna say red velvet, but it's it it but it sounds too it's like a it'll sound like I've got a crush on him or something.
SPEAKER_01:So that's very very romantic.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it's a bit too much of a romantic cake. So I think I'm gonna go I'm gonna go a 10 slice Victoria sponge.
SPEAKER_01:Oh everyone likes a Victoria sponge.
SPEAKER_02:Maybe we just leave it there. Like you don't know whether or not I like a I do not know whether I like a Victoria sponge or not.
SPEAKER_01:No, he was a really good guest, and um yeah, I really enjoyed it.
SPEAKER_02:It's it's really nice, I think, that with him and with Craig you can see them breaking the mould of the you know IT people that don't have personalities and what have you.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and I'm I'm so I'm so honoured that they both came on here to show that side.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Love that. Thank you, Gary.
SPEAKER_02:And thank you very much, Gary. And if you by the way, and if Gary has not listened to this, but anyone else who knows Git he brought it up, yeah. Please let him know that we've said some really revolutionary things about him. Revelationary revelation. It's a revelation. It's a revelation. Yeah. Just tell him that, and then he can subscribe as well.
SPEAKER_01:The git.
SPEAKER_02:The git.
SPEAKER_01:Well, it should make sense if you heard the whole podcast.
SPEAKER_02:This is literally just gonna be a mic drop it, isn't it? Like, yeah, there we go. And and we'll cheer on the git.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you for listening.
SPEAKER_02:Great stuff. Thanks everyone, and yeah, thank you for supporting. Thank you for subscribing, and do drop us some comments or send us a text or whatever. Um and let us know what you like and like obviously gems and the bits you don't like, obviously. What about you? Yeah, that's it. Anyway, cheers guys.
