Paul Gibbs
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Fireside Chat with Paul Gibbs – World-class Balloon Pilot

FIRESIDE CHATS first began in 1933 by Franklin D. Roosevelt. They were a series of evening radio addresses given by the US President. interestingly Roosevelt was regarded as an effective communicator on radio and these Weekly Fireside chats kept him in high regard throughout his presidency.

We decided to start these fireside chats “An entrepreneurs journey” to give you real people who are currently building great businesses. Entrepreneurs who have build business and to hear there story and experiences so that you can learn and relate to the journey. Take the journey with the ones who have gone before you because they have travelled the ever-shifting sands of business and you want to learn from that.

Moving country to build a business with special guest and world-class balloonist Paul Gibbs

Phaway Atacama Ballooning
Chile Atacama Desert- Pilot Paul Gibbs

In this interview, we join hosts Jonathon Brake and Mark Phillips for this week’s Fireside chat was with one of our Global Mentors Paul Gibbs. We were lucky enough to catch him the week he returned to Melbourn Australia. He’s returning from Chile with his wife (another balloon pilot) and their dog Alegra (you can follow her on Instagram; Alegra_the_balloon_dog) which he added moving country with a dog in COVID was a real challenge. They, his wife and dog returned to Australia after setting up their third balloon operation in Chile in the Atacama desert. Paul was able to give us some really great insights into what it takes to move country and set up a business.

Maaike and balloon dog

Above is a Picture of Maaike the cofounder of Phaway Atacama Ballooning Experience and their balloon crew dog. Who by the way went back to Australia with them, till then head back next season.

The conversation is hosted by the founder Mark Phillips of Business in Barefeet who is a longtime friend of Pauls from Canberra Australia.

Paul Gibbs is definitely a man who lives without excuses he’s a world champion hot air balloonist and never shuns an opportunity of adventure. He’s also the only man to fly a house over the Sydney harbour (a balloon shaped like a house).

COVID has had Paul and his wife and team making some difficult decisions. Having to close the business for the moment in Chile and head back to Australia to run their second business Gold Rush ballooning in Victoria. They had to leave the local crew and a few aircraft (commercial balloons) back in chile with the hope of them going back again. But they were not leaving their Dog so Alegra the balloon dog got a ride back to Australia.

The trials and tribulations of starting a business in Chile are huge but they just took it in there stride. Check out the live chat.

We hope you enjoy the chat with Paul Gibbs and got some good takeaways from it. We have also put together a tips & takeaways for you and you will also see how to contact Paul Gibbs so CHECK IT OUT!

The SandTracks Global Mentoring Team is proud to have Paul Gibbs as one of our Global Mentors his experience and industry knowledge stretches far and wide. He has a very dynamic team with his wife Maaike being a commercial balloonist and multilingual superwoman. Always up for a good adventure!

You are invited to join our Global Virtual Coworking every Friday where you can co-work with a mentor or join the SandTracks CLUB – Virtual Business Incubator where you get access to group mentoring with 25+ Global Mentors.

Tune in for our next Fireside Chat is with IoT specialist CEO & founder of LESS Industries Sebastian Cerone and discover what it takes to lead a global team of Agtech geeks in IoT and AI. SEE EVENTS on Facebook.

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