EPISODE 5: Paul Tierney on starting a new business unit and brand in the age of climate change

My guest on this episode of For Love & Money is Paul Tierney, General Manager of Business Development at TPG Telecom (previously Vodafone Australia). Paul has spent 15 years in the telecommunications industry in a range of roles from Finance to Strategy to Sales and Marketing. In his current role he is responsible for the Lebara and Felix consumer brands. Paul also recently led a piece of work which led to TPG Telecom committing to power their operations with 100% renewable electricity by 2025. The felix brand is the newest brand in the TPG Telecom family having launched in November 2020 and has a strong focus on sustainability and on driving positive impact.

One of the things I want to achieve with this podcast is to share a diverse range of stories from businesses and brands at different stages of their purpose journey; as well as from different perspectives - small, medium and corporate.

This episode is a good one for getting an insight into how a new business unit and/or brand can start their purpose journey within a corporate organisation.  Clearly there are challenges, but also potential opportunities. A great message comes out of this episode for me - it's all about just getting started and recognising that perfection is the enemy of progress.

Here are some of the areas my interview with Paul covered:

• The secret that our mobile phones are hiding
• How TPG Telecom’s new brand felix started their journey that led them to becoming a brand driven by a higher purpose
• How the personal beliefs of the start-up team influenced the decision to become a purpose-led brand
• Navigating the challenges and opportunities of being part of a big corporate business 
• How felix is contributing to the momentum within the movement to broaden commitments from the telco industry
• Balancing the need to be financially-stable and driving impact
• How Felix uses partnerships to ensure that the supply chain of tree planting is authentic and effective
• felix’s 2-year social impact goal and Paul’s 5-year ambition for the business