The “Mick Jagger of US bankruptcy”. That's Jamie Sprayregen's nickname, and after more than 35 years at the centre of some of the world’s biggest corporate crises, it’s not hard to see why.

Jamie built the restructuring practice at Kirkland & Ellis into a global powerhouse, advised on landmark restructurings including United Airlines and the City of Detroit, spent two extraordinary years at Goldman Sachs as the Global Financial Crisis unfolded, and was named by the National Law Journal as one of the decade’s most influential lawyers.

After leaving Kirkland in 2024 and joining Hilco Global as Vice Chairman, Jamie has now returned to law as Co-Head of Restructuring & Debt Capital Solutions at Paul, Weiss.

Why do some iconic businesses survive disruption while others disappear forever?

In this episode James H Stewart sits down with Ian Fredericks, CEO of Capital Solutions (Americas) at Hilco Global, Global Head of Data & Innovation, and one of the world's leading experts in corporate restructuring, distressed investing and retail turnarounds.

Having advised on some of the largest retail restructurings in the United States, Ian provides a rare insider's perspective on what really happened behind the collapses of Circuit City and Toys "R" Us, and why many great companies fail long before they run out of money.

The conversation explores the warning signs of corporate distress, the impact of leveraged buyouts, how investors identify businesses worth saving, the explosive growth of private credit, and how artificial intelligence is reshaping the future of retail.

For more than 110 years, Haigh's Chocolates has delighted Australians while remaining proudly family-owned, manufacturing locally and resisting the lure of supermarket shelves.

James H Stewart sits down with fourth-generation family leader Alister Haigh to explore the remarkable story behind one of Australia's most respected premium brands.

After leading Haigh's Chocolates for almost three decades as CEO, Alister recently stepped aside, handing the reins to the company's first non-family chief executive. Together, James and Alister discuss what it takes to preserve a family legacy while continuing to evolve in an increasingly competitive and rapidly changing retail landscape.

Retail is changing faster than ever. But are today's retailers really growing—or have they simply been riding a wave of inflation?

James H Stewart sits down with Paul Martin, Global Retail Growth Leader and Partner at AlixPartners, one of the world's leading advisory firms specialising in retail transformation, performance improvement and turnaround.

Having advised many of the world's largest retailers, consumer brands, boards and private equity firms across Europe, North America and Asia, Paul offers a unique global perspective on the forces reshaping the retail and consumer landscape.

Geoff Wilson AO is one of Australia's most outspoken advocates for retail shareholders.

As the founder and Chairman of Wilson Asset Management, Geoff has spent almost five decades navigating financial markets, building one of Australia's leading investment firms and becoming a powerful voice on corporate governance, shareholder activism and public policy.

James H Stewart sits down with Geoff to discuss his journey from research analyst to managing billions of dollars on behalf of more than 130,000 investors. He shares the lessons learned through multiple market cycles and discusses the defining issues that have shaped Geoff's career, including his campaigns for better corporate governance, his activism during the AMP board upheaval following the Royal Commission, and the highly publicised franking credits campaign that became one of the biggest political issues of the 2019 Federal Election.

LMND may be the hottest female fashion brand in Australia right now.

James H Stewart sits down with Ana Escobar, founder of Australian fashion label LMND, to explore an extraordinary entrepreneurial journey spanning two continents, some of Australia's best-known retail brands, and the challenges of building a self funded premium fashion business.

Born in Australia before moving to Colombia as a young child, Ana shares her remarkable story of growing up in Medellin, during one of Colombia's most turbulent periods before returning to Australia to pursue a career in fashion.

The Alexander Group is New Zealand's leading specialist dangerous goods logostics business.

James H Stewart sits down with Hayley Alexander, CEO of this 55-year-old family logistics business, to discuss the business remarkable journey and her personal evolution from a career in public service to CEO.

Hayley’s path to leadership was far from conventional.

Before joining the family business, she spent 10 years as a social worker in New Zealand and the UK, working in areas including domestic violence and child protection. She later joined Alexander Group in 2002 and has now led the business as CEO for more than eight years.

What can a funeral business teach us about leadership, trust, innovation and family business governance?

Quite a lot, it turns out.

In this episode of What I Learned in Business (That Didn't Kill Me), I sit down with James MacLeod OAM, Managing Director of Tobin Brothers Funerals, one of Australia's largest and most respected family-owned businesses.

James's journey is remarkable. Starting as a coffin trimmer as a young boy, he worked his way through virtually every role in the organisation before becoming the first non-family Managing Director in the company's history. Today, he leads a team of approximately 280 people delivering around 7,000 funerals each year.

Born and raised on a dairy farm near Shepparton and the first person in her extended family to attend university, Wendy built a remarkable 32-year career with Accenture that took her from regional Victoria to leadership roles across Asia, New York and the global technology consulting sector.

Following her executive career, Wendy became one of Australia's most respected Non-Executive Directors, serving on the boards of organisations including Coles, Commonwealth Bank, Blackmores, Altium, Melbourne Business School and most recently PwC Australia. She also has a long association with Fitted For Work, the NFP supporting women in the workplace.

If we are the "lucky country", why does life feel hard for so many of us?

Saul Eslake is one of Australia's most respected independent economists and his conversation with James H Stewart cuts through the political noise and examines the true state of Australia's finances.

Drawing on decades of experience advising governments, financial institutions and businesses, Saul provides a candid assessment of Australia's economic performance over the past quarter century and discusses the major challenges that will shape the nation's future.

Online success is more than just a great platform, service or product.

Brand development, storytelling and communication sit front and centre of why customers will engage with you. This means understanding the power of language.

In this episode I sit down with Bernadette Schwerdt — entrepreneur, best selling author, founder of the Australian School of Copywriting, and host of the podcast So You Want to Be a Copywriter.

Bernadette has spent decades helping businesses and individuals communicate in a way that drives real commercial outcomes. But in today’s environment — shaped by artificial intelligence, shifting business models, and the explosion of digital content — the stakes around communication, storytelling, and intellectual property have never been higher.

Coopers Brewery is one of Australia's oldest family businesses and most famous brewers.

In this episode James H Stewart sits down with Andrew Cooper, Executive Director of Coopers Brewery.

Founded in Adelaide in 1862, Coopers Brewery has survived wars, recessions, industry disruption, changing consumer preferences, and even a hostile takeover attempt.

But this conversation is about far more than beer.

What happens when business and government policy intersect? What happens when the institutions that underpin our democracy, economy and social cohesion come under pressure? What happens to leaders when moral clarity is lost?

James Stewart sits down with Jennifer Westacott AC — one of the most influential leaders in Australian public and business life.

From growing up in public housing, in a home marked by hardship, violence and instability… to becoming one of the most powerful voices in Australian business, government and the education sector, Jennifer’s story is one of resilience, courage and an unwavering commitment to fairness, dignity and opportunity.

Over a remarkable career Jennifer has served at the highest levels of public life — from leading major government departments in housing, education, planning and infrastructure… to building KPMG’s sustainability and government advisory practice… to spending 13 years as Chief Executive of the Business Council of Australia, where she became the public face of corporate Australia during some of the most turbulent economic and social challenges of our time.

Have you ever wanted to be part of a Social Enterprise? What about building a business that does good for the community - at scale?

Kim McDonnell — founder of Thankful, Thankful4Farmers, and Saveful, and winner of the 2025 Women in Digital Champion of Change Award, has done just that (and more)!

Kim shares her remarkable journey from growing up in the remote mining town of Mount Isa, in outback QLD to building and selling a successful digital marketing agency, before making the bold decision to walk away from corporate success, sell literally everything she and her family owned and dedicate her life to solving some of the world’s biggest social and environmental challenges.

How a Holocaust survival story shaped a family legacy and inspired a serial retail investor to keep striving for success.

In this deeply personal discussion, James H Stewart sits down with retailer, investor, former lawyer and long-time friend, Tom Krulis for a conversation that goes far beyond business.

Tom opens up about his family’s extraordinary journey, including the posthumous publication of his father Steven’s book, The Boy with the Suitcase, the enduring legacy of growing up as the son of a Holocaust survivor, and how those experiences shaped his values, leadership style, and appetite for risk.

James and Tom reflect on their shared experiences travelling through Rwanda, exploring one of the most remarkable national turnarounds of modern times following the Rwandan Genocide, and then rise of antisemitism in Australia what business leaders can learn from resilience, reconciliation, and rebuilding.

From there, the conversation shifts to Tom’s remarkable business career—from leaving law at Freehills, to helping drive the success of Godfreys Group through multiple ownership cycles, becoming an early investor in Petstock before its billion-dollar transaction with Woolworths Group, and navigating the recent collapse of value retailer, Cheap as Chips.

The Banking Royal Commission was the reset needed for the Australian banking industry and demanded by the community.

Sally Bruce's first hand experience at Macquarie Bank, National Australia Bank, AMP bank, gave her a unique insight into some of Australia's largest financial institutions, the important role than they play in the community and what can go wrong when the institution gets in its own way.

From rural Queensland, Sally is a straight shooter who calls it as she sees it and gives a unique insight into some of the more turbulent times in Australian banking. Her career pivot to technology scale up, Culture Amp, reframed her thinking around business and opened her eyes into a world of global technology and workplace culture.

A former F18 fighter pilot, a former leader of the Australian aerobatic flying team the Roulettes, a Senior Advisor to the Australian Defence industry and someone who literally jumps off tall building (or cliffs) in a single bound.

That's what you get when you chat with Peter Robinson.

In this high-impact episode, James Stewart sits down with Peter Robinson, CEO of NWE Strategic to discuss the current and future state of Australia's Defence capability.

Harvey Weinstein and Brittany Higgins have one thing in common. They were at the heart of a movement to reform workplace safety and workplace culture and right at the centre of that process, was Kate Jenkins AO, one of Australia’s most prominent voices on workplace safety, sexual discrimination and culture.

Kate is the former Sex Discrimination Commissioner at the Australian Human Rights Commission and has led some of the most significant reviews and inquiries in Australia, including the landmark Respect@Work report into workplace sexual harassment, the independent review into culture inside Federal Parliament, and major cultural reviews across sport, government and business.

Kate was also the Commissioner of the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission and is currently the Chair of the Australian, Sports Commission, Chair of Creative Workplaces Australia and President of the Australian Red Cross among other roles.

The Australian residential housing market is unaffordable for many. It is being impacted by a perfect storm of a supply demand imbalance, rising construction costs, a fuel crisis, and a planning system which many argue needs wholesale reform.

To hear more, I sit down with Angus Raine, Executive Chairman of Raine & Horne — one of Australia’s oldest and most enduring family businesses to get his perspective on Australia's housing crisis and what it takes to build a sustainable, intergenerational family business.

Founded in 1883 and now in its fourth generation of family ownership, Raine & Horne has navigated more than a century of market cycles — from booms and busts to wars and recessions — and today operates at scale across Australia and international markets.

Geopolitics now sits at the centre of business decision-making.

My guest is Dr Merriden Varrall, one of Australia’s leading geopolitical analysts and China specialists, and the founder and CEO of Vantage Geopol.

Merriden brings a rare combination of academic depth, policy experience, and commercial advisory insight. She has spent nearly a decade living and working in China, held senior roles with the United Nations Development Programme in Beijing, led the East Asia Program at the Lowy Institute, and now advises boards and executives on how global political shifts impact strategy, risk, and long-term investment decisions.