Gina Samuels and Production House win the 2021 MBN Optimism Award

Project Optimism's Jenny Boymal and Victor Perton caught up with Gina Samuels of The Production House Events. Gina and The Production House Events won the Melbourne Business Network's 2021 Social Well-being Award sponsored by Project Optimism and the 2021 Business of the Year Award. 

Jenny Boymal: Gina, you won two impressive awards in the 2021 Melbourne Business Network Awards. We're so excited. Do you want to tell us about your business, The Production House Events?

Gina Samuels: My husband Harry Samuels and I are the co-owners and co-founders of The Production House Events, and we run all sorts of events and conferences predominantly for the medical industry, the legal industry, and several corporates. We do everything from small workshops, masterclasses, virtual events, which we obviously did a lot of in the last two years, and very large mainstream conferences. And we've had the pleasure of working with some of the most extraordinary leaders and amazing people in Australia and New Zealand, working over the last 12 years.

Jenny Boymal:   Amazing. You entered and won the social well-being category in the Melbourne Business Awards. Why did you enter that category, and why are you so passionate about well-being?

Gina Samuels:  Social well-being and respect underpin our whole business. Our business has grown year on year over 12 years because of the people we work with."And we've always really put a strong emphasis on respect and well-being of our staff, of our clients, of the sponsors that come to our events, of all stakeholders involved. 

"We believe that if you treat people with respect and always go into any arrangement with a win-win attitude, to make sure that people get the best outcome of their experience with you, that's the most important thing. 

"And the thing over the last two years of the pandemic and lockdowns, I think what has really been very prominent is the well-being of your staff, because it was a tough two years, especially in our industry.

"So we have a very, very strong emphasis on looking out after our staff, making sure that we are checking in on them from a mental health perspective, making sure that we're providing a great working environment, and looking after them, along with all the other stakeholders we mentioned. 

"And then, over the course of this year, we formalised that by putting together a program that talks about how we care for the people around us. And not just the people but also for our country, our community, and our planet. So that's what underpins our whole business, and really everything sort of falls out from there because ultimately that's what underpins the way we go about our business.

Jenny Boymal: Amazing. I love the ethos, Gina. Obviously, the events industry is one of the industries that were just really bashed during this crisis. What did you do? How did you manage to get through?

Gina Samuels:  It was unbelievable because I am the eternal optimist. So I come from a background where optimism is in my blood. It's in my veins. It comes down from my grandparents, my parents, and straight through to me. 

"So when it was happening, I was in denial; I was like, "No, it will be three months, it'll be six months." And it was like a domino effect where it was literally one after the other, after the other. 

"But I think that, luckily, first of all, my husband Harry, he's the CEO of our company, two years before COVID hitting, had already seen that the future was digital. And he had embarked on this already, and we'd already built a platform online where we were promoting our business masterclass, which is all about the digital experience.

"We'd already embarked on looking at technology to support this. We'd done a few events with some virtual aspects to them, and then when COVID hit, we were ready. The technology caught up with us because obviously, the technology available before COVID wasn't quite up to standard, but we were prepared for it. So within months of COVID hitting, we were already delivering digital events. 

"I think the biggest thing was our relationships with our clients. They trusted us and empowered us, and they were with us and partnered with us to be able to deliver these events because you can only do these things if you have great clients.

"And as a result, we did some really, really great events. 

"We won an award last week for one of our medical events, which was very exciting, but it's funny because people ask me and say, "Oh my God." They almost tilt their heads and look at you in sort of disappointment and feeling sorry for us, saying, "How were the last two years?" And I think that the last two years, whilst they were challenging, were still really empowering. And I feel like we've come out of the two years feeling stronger than we began it. And obviously, things have happened, and it's been a tough two years, but somehow we've come out of it a lot stronger.

Victor Perton:   You talk about optimism and inheriting it from your mother and your grandparents and the like, and a lot of optimism is inherited, it's genetic, but most of us still have to work on it. And it comes from life experiences. You've talked about from faith, from family, from friends. So can we ask you that fundamental question? What makes you optimistic?

Gina Samuels: "I think that definitely, my background makes me optimistic. I come from a background where my grandparents were Holocaust survivors, and they survived the most unbelievable stories. So when you have that as your background, it makes anything pale in comparison. 

"When people thought that COVID was the worst thing ever to hit when you're sitting at dinner tables and talking about much larger stories, you realise, "We're actually okay. We're living in beautiful homes, we can eat, we're safe, we're warm." 

"It's a pretty big thing. So that absolutely underpins who I am as a human being.  

"At the same time, I agree with you that it's also what you do with it moving forward.

"I surround myself with amazingly positive people. Negative Nellies are not my cup of tea because I can't buy into that whole path.

"So I surround myself with good people. I read inspiring books. I watch inspiring television. I listen to inspiring podcasts. 

"I have unbelievable people working in our team. Every single person we have handpicked in our team at The Production House Events is a spectacular human being. They've all got amazing stories, they're educated, they're articulate, and they are an incredible talent within the broader team. 

"And we're lucky in that a lot of our team members have been with us for many, many years. 

"So I think that by being around the right people, and by surrounding yourself with the right dialogue, and I guess things that you're reading, it does keep you positive. And even when things do dip, you pick up very quickly. And also keeping healthy, exercising, taking good vitamins, and putting good things into your body. It's all about that as well.

Victor Perton: "That message resonates strongly because Jenny and I come from refugee and migrant backgrounds like you. The kids and the grandkids of refugees tend to be the most optimistic in any society. 

"So working on Project Optimism, we see optimism as one of the critical underpinnings of well-being. How can you be resilient unless you believe that by persisting, the future is going to be better? Today's medical evidence shows that the trait of optimism so underpins healthy longevity. So in your work, in improving the well-being of your team, clients, stakeholders, and participants, what do you see as that connection between optimism and well-being?

Gina Samuels: "I think people feed off optimism, and I think that it's contagious. And I think it's all essential to be optimistic and really live and breathe it.

"Where I think our business is strong, and this is where my husband very much comes in, is also marrying that up with the business. And then your plan Bs, and your plan Cs, and the technology that supports what you're doing, so that way, because things do go wrong, I mean, you can imagine we're doing events with 1000, 2000 people. We've got doctors, we've got surgeons, we've got barristers, we've got lawyers, things happen. So what happens when those things happen? What's your risk analysis? What's your contingency plan? So that way, even when things are going pear-shaped, you can travel through it.

"My mum always used to say, "You have to act like a duck. You glide over the water while your little feet are paddling underneath the water. And no one sees that. They just see you gliding." And that's what I tell my team; it's ultimately acting like a duck. 

"Our modus operandi is positive, encouraging, enthusiastic, but realistic. And where the realism comes in is well-being, well planned using technology to support your business. That way, you're not repeating things over and over again, and that you're automating things. And that way, if someone goes on holiday, things can continue, or if someone goes down, we can continue the business. So it's marrying up the two.

Victor Perton: That's utterly brilliant because it's a realistic optimism, and that infectious optimism, and unlocking the optimism in the team that's made you such a success. People are yearning for positive leadership, the sort of leadership that your husband and your team exemplify. So, I'd love to ask you, as you've developed as a human being and as an entrepreneur, who've been the leaders, and who've been the bosses who've inspired you?

Gina Samuels: "It's such an interesting question because I recently did a post on LinkedIn about this, where I talked about how important having mentors and positive influences are. Because I think that there are things that you get out of these experiences of working with really smart people, or risk-takers, or people who just push the edges. I've been fortunate that after university, I was picked to work for a company where I worked for some amazing, amazing human beings. These were professionals that had done very, very well. And they handpicked several young ones. They taught us how to hustle; they taught us how to work; they taught us how to walk into a meeting and make sure that you wrote down the name of the person's partner, the person's dog, and their favourite holiday.

"So where you'd remember it for the next time, all the little things in business that are important about personalisation and making people feel special and follow up. And they were amazing, and I've been very, very lucky to work with some very smart people. And throughout my career, I've worked for some very large multinationals where I've learned a lot because you learn about corporate structure, and you learn about red tape, and you learn about all sorts of different things. And there are mentors in there, but the ones that I've really learned from are the entrepreneurs. They're gutsy, and they're risk-takers, and they're fearless. And they lose sometimes, but they recover. So they've definitely been impressive. But also some more high profile people like Simon Sinek, people like that where they're smart and they're savvy, but they're real and not the textbook. So you can apply what they're saying to real life without it being too complicated.

"And then there's also just inspirational people that are not necessarily within the industry or the corporate industry, but they're just great people. And, you take little bits from everywhere, and that's why it's essential to network. And that's why I'm so proud to be involved in your community because I really, really truly believe in tribes, in community, in collaboration, because one plus one is always more than two. So, you get people together, and that's where the magic's made. It's about connection.

Victor Perton:  Do you want to go back to those people who picked you up? Do you want to give a bit of a shout out to those early-career mentors?

Gina Samuels: "Steve Sacks, Ronnie Lewis, Philip Weinman.

"We had something special. We had three different companies working from one office building, and we had a ball; I mean, some really successful people came out of that building. There were big players, and I learned to love work. You speak to so many people about, "How's work?" And they go, "Oh, such a drag." I've never been like that; I've always loved working. I mean, indeed, not every day is a great day, but I love the journey. And I think that having started off like that was just amazing.

Jenny Boymal: That's awesome. Can I ask you? At the beginning of our discussion, you said you arere optimistic about 2022. What are you up to? Can you share a little bit more about that?

Gina Samuels: "That's funny predictions for 2022 can be quite polarising in terms of people either like, "Oh, we won't go into another lockdown," or "Oh, it's going to be an amazing year." 

"The reality is you can choose which path you're going to go down. And I'm not opting to go down the path of going down into another lockdown, but again using that whole logic of, "We do have plan B in place." I know we can go into another lockdown and we're prepared for it. We're ready from a technology perspective; we're prepared from a personnel perspective; we're prepared financially. And the reality is that we've done what we had to do, we've gone and gotten vaccinated, we're in a different position, now we also know what we're dealing with.

"And I think that the world has evolved. Yes, there could be some hiccups along the way, but we're more prepared. 2020 I think everyone was in shock. 2021 we're all escalating and hustling, and in 2022, I just see it as being really, really positive. And look, we're fortunate; we've got almost a full book for next year. In terms of our staffing, we could bring on a few more events, but ultimately we've pretty much almost booked out for next year because people want to meet, and people want to connect, and people want to learn. And that's also inspiring. I love that I'm involved in an industry that helps people learn. It's amazing.

Jenny Boymal: "You are so aligned with our values. We could talk all day. Thank you so much for joining us and talking to us about your optimism and well-being and the impact that you've made through the business. And congratulations again on winning the award, and we're so thrilled to be able to be part of that journey."