Daily life
Smith’s day is varied and will generally involve a mix of working with his senior management team, meeting with franchisees to tackle challenges and industry advocacy through the media or other channels.
For lunch, it’s tuna on dry biscuits, a chicken salad or perhaps sushi.
When asked if he ever practices physiotherapy, Smith admits he doesn’t have any scope in his day to allow him to see clients, but he is still registered as a physio for a good reason.
“Two or three weeks a year, we have our charitable origination, and we do some pro bono work in some indigenous communities,” he says.
Leisure time
Although when he gets home from work he will be focused on spending time with his wife and kids, Smith admits he’ll go back to do another three to four hours of work after the children have gone to bed.
“Pre-kids, I violated every life balance rule that existed,” admits Smith, saying he and his wife made a pact to be very conscious and accountable once their children were born.
“The secret isn’t being me being disciplined, it’s my wife who is so vigilant and holds me to account – all the credit goes to her.”
Smith tells SmartCompany he had an epiphany about rest and downtime when writing a chapter of his book.
It was 3am in the morning and he was writing about being healthy and getting enough sleep. He saw the irony and, in the morning, told his wife things had to change.
When he gets some down time, Smith loves to read and you could also find him playing a game of tennis or camping and travelling with his family.
Future
Smith has an ambitious plan for the company, saying he plans to open another 35 stores (rounding the franchise count up to 100) in the next three years, with at least one in each state and territory.
“It’s head down, bum up,” he says.
The other important goal for Smith is fostering his relationship with his franchisees.
“I want to encourage our guys on three things to do well: One, to ensure the protection of our culture; two, to ensure every client is absolutely thrilled with their experience; and three, follow the model we have built as the franchisor. They don’t need to think about it, because it works.”
Kirsten Robb is a former journalist at SmartCompany. Previously, she worked at News Corp as a property reporter for Leader Newspapers and the Herald Sun, and holds a Masters of Journalism at Melbourne University.
