Better Conversations
Sharing the lessons, stories and strategies behind great support.
Why the BDM Role in the NDIS Isn’t About Sales
Tom Curtis and Leah Stout, Kindly Healthcare
Kindly’s managing director and business development manager on what business development really looks like in a sector built on trust, and why no provider is the right fit for everyone.
Unearthing the stories and people in the space.
Jackson Morton sits down with the people who run and work in services supporting people with disability. Where they started, the hard parts, and what they learned, in full and in their own words.
New conversations every fortnight, on YouTube with video and on Spotify.
- How do you keep good staff?Episode 4 with Tom Curtis and Leah Stout at 31:03
- Where do referrals really come from?Episode 1 with Bailey Williams at 11:42
- What do you do when a plan gets cut?Episode 1 with Bailey Williams at 23:55
- How do you care all day and still have something left at five?Episode 2 with Stu Moerman at 29:10
Every conversation, in full
Newest first. Press play to watch here, or open it in your app.
Why the BDM Role in the NDIS Isn’t About Sales
Tom Curtis and Leah Stout, Kindly Healthcare
Kindly’s managing director and business development manager on what business development really looks like in a sector built on trust, and why no provider is the right fit for everyone.
Chapters 20
Each time opens the episode on YouTube at that moment.
- 0:00Introduction and Welcome
- 0:33Meet Tom and Leah from Kindly Healthcare
- 1:46Why Kindly Started
- 6:31A Brand Staff Want to Wear
- 8:15Staying Person-Centred
- 10:15Keeping the Lights On
- 12:18What Drew Leah to Kindly
- 14:01A BDM’s Real Week
- 15:59Is Business Development Really Sales?
- 16:56Building the BDM Role
- 20:32Out to the Few, Not the Many
- 22:46What Gets Them Out of Bed
- 27:28Growing Great New Grads
- 31:03A Team That’s Proud to Be There
- 33:23Why Kindly’s Leaders Stay Clinical
- 37:50Be Genuine: The T-Shirt Story
- 42:58Quality and Knowing You’re Not Everyone’s Fit
- 44:56One Care Team Around the Person
- 48:49What’s Next for Leah and Kindly
- 51:30Where to Find Kindly
The Email Every NDIS Provider Should Want
Connor Schatto and Ned Kennett, PlusOne Mentoring
Two founders who grew a mentoring service to around 80 mentors in two years, on complementary skills, using AI while keeping data in Australia, and the best email a provider can get.
Chapters 17
Each time opens the episode on YouTube at that moment.
- 0:00Introduction and Welcome
- 1:01How PlusOne Mentoring Started
- 3:16Why a Partnership: Complementary Skills
- 6:04Team Size and Who Does What
- 9:09Their Take on the Registration Process
- 11:27Using AI While Keeping Data in Australia
- 14:11Being Upfront With Families About AI
- 15:46An Award Nomination and Thinking Differently
- 20:21The Email Every Provider Should Want
- 21:32Growing Fast Without Losing Quality
- 23:13Hiring for Personality
- 24:46Advice: Invest in Systems Early
- 26:08Advice: Do More Than You Think You Can
- 28:28The Trap of Acting Like You Have All the Answers
- 30:13Building a Business Through Chronic Illness
- 34:26Perspective From the Families They Support
- 36:38Where to Find PlusOne Mentoring
Why You Need a Hard Heart and a Soft Heart in the NDIS
Stu Moerman, True Support Services
Twenty years working with young people. Stu on starting True Support almost by accident, trusting staff instead of watching them, and why this work needs a hard heart and a soft heart.
Chapters 11
Each time opens the episode on YouTube at that moment.
- 0:00Cold open and introductions
- 1:15Twenty years: guardianship, residential care and homelessness
- 4:23Close to burnout, and meeting Max
- 8:39Starting True Support, by accident
- 16:21Building a team around your weaknesses
- 22:12Trust, and what over-supervision actually costs
- 25:13Advice for coming into this work green
- 29:10The hard heart and the soft heart
- 32:11Crossed lines, and what the service actually is
- 35:17Falling through the cracks, and one good adult
- 45:45The reforms, from someone who has seen the cycle before
Building an NDIS Support Coordination Business from Scratch
Bailey Williams, Next Move Support Coordination
At 24, Bailey runs his own support coordination business. Going out on your own, where referrals really come from, plan cuts, and why genuinely caring beats chasing the money.
Chapters 14
Each time opens the episode on YouTube at that moment.
- 0:00Introductions and the support coordination role
- 1:41Why he chose support coordination
- 3:34Managing staff from age nineteen
- 8:16Where his drive comes from
- 11:42Advice for providers, money and referrals
- 16:52Running the business on his own
- 20:37Jackson’s three years in business
- 23:55NDIS plan cuts and families
- 27:36A provider’s view of the cuts
- 33:21Are good services still incentivised
- 38:39The voices who shaped him
- 41:19Loneliness of running your own business
- 45:38Why people warm to Bailey
- 48:39What the sector needs, honesty
The people who have sat in the other chair
Founders, directors and practitioners from across the sector.
Jackson Morton
Company Director, Better Support SA
Jackson started Better Support SA in Adelaide and still works directly with the young people the service supports. He came into this work in his early twenties, learned it on the job from people who had been in it far longer, and started the podcast because almost none of what they taught him was written down anywhere.
He asks the questions a provider would ask: how you hold a team together, what you do when the funding moves, how you look after the person in front of you without burning out. He is more interested in a long answer than a tidy one, which is why the episodes run the length they do.
Listen where you already listen
Every episode goes up in full on YouTube, with video, and on Spotify.
Clips and behind the scenes on Instagram: @bettersupportsa
Want to be a guest?
We talk with people who run or work in services supporting people with disability: founders, directors, support coordinators, therapists and frontline staff. If you have a story worth putting on the record, we would love to hear it.
Or write to hello@bettersupportsa.com.au
Looking for support?
Better Support SA is an Adelaide NDIS provider. Our team works mostly with young people, building skills, confidence and connection at home and out in the community.
Or call 0429 687 573
Photography by Noble Content.