The Opportunity You Almost Walked Past

Back in 2017, Jane Seymour stood up at one of my dinners and shared a story with the group about a derelict olive grove in the foothills near the Grampians.

She and her husband Neil had arrived there after an unexpected redundancy, looking for a new direction, and found what looked like nothing but a problem, baked soil, shrivelled trees, no obvious way forward.

The conversation that brought Jane to my table wasn't something I planned. Anna Osherov, a connector in my own network, introduced us and made it possible. That's the opportunity I seized, not just the introduction itself, but the invitation I extended afterward, asking Jane to come and share her story with my community.

I could easily have let it pass as a nice conversation and nothing more. Instead, I followed it.

What Jane brought to that room became one of the best prompts for conversation I've had at any dinner. We ended up comparing our own problems and opportunities, hers in a grove, mine in a very different business, and finding they weren't as different as they looked. That's exactly what stayed with me long enough to give it a chapter in my book, Problems Are Opportunities.

Twenty five years on, that grove is Mount Zero Olives, a nationally distributed, award winning brand. Jane and Neil didn't get there alone. Season after season, they learned from other growers, from the land itself, from local farmers and the local community, and each relationship widened what they could see was possible. It's a journey Jane is still walking, on her own terms, even now, as she thinks about what the years ahead might hold.

Her story has stayed with me because it's proof that anything is possible, if you're willing to step outside your comfort zone when the opportunity calls for it.

You don't find hidden opportunities by trying harder on your own. You find them in conversation.

Watch the video from that night and you will find that- You can hear Jane tell it in her own words, the way our table did that night.

If you would like to attend dinners that can expand your thinking, or need help in finding Hidden Opportunities, I can help. Book a call and let’s start a conversation of our own at www.kerryn-powell.com.au/connect