Episode 107: The Power of Partnerships in Business and Beyond with Danny Levy
In this episode, we’re joined by Danny Levy, Managing Director, Asia & ANZ, at Money20/20, and the founder and host of the Digital Transformation & Leadership podcast. With over 15 years of senior leadership experience, Danny shares his journey of building high-performing teams, the power of partnerships, and the strategic insights that have fueled his success in scaling businesses across Asia and ANZ.
Danny takes us behind the scenes of Money20/20’s landmark expansion into Asia, including the launch of the first Money20/20 event in Bangkok, which attracted over 3,000 leaders from 80+ countries. Danny’s extensive experience in managing major events and spearheading market growth has made him a renowned voice in the business community, especially in the realms of digital transformation and financial technology.
As a podcast host, Danny engages with executives from global companies like Facebook, Google, and DBS to uncover key trends shaping the future of business. His leadership style focuses on building empowering environments for teams and driving impactful change through strategic growth, innovation, and digital transformation.
In This Episode, We Explore:
- The importance of partnerships in scaling businesses and navigating the challenges of new markets
- How to build inclusive, high-performing teams and recruit top talent
- The role of digital transformation in modern business growth
- Practical advice for entrepreneurs and leaders seeking to build resilient partnerships in business and life
Connect with Danny Levy:
- LinkedIn: Danny Levy
- Money20/20 Asia: Money20/20
Tune in for actionable insights and a compelling conversation on the transformative power of partnerships, growth, and resilience in the business landscape. Don’t miss Danny’s expert advice on how to harness relationships and leadership to drive both business and personal success.
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Read the full transcript of this episode below:
Lynn Howard
Hey, I’m Lynn.
The Pursuit of Badasserie
And I’m Amanda. Welcome to the pursuit of Badasserie: the podcast. We’re back again with an incredible, incredible guest. Lynn tell us all about him.
Lynn Howard
Yeah, Danny Levy has worked in senior roles, leadership roles in Singapore for over 14 years, started and scaled for businesses and achieved record profit results.
We love profit. He is currently the managing director for Asia and ANZ of money 2020, the world’s largest leading premium content sales and networking platform for the global money ecosystem.
Prior to the standing brand, the APEC operations for world wide business research for 10 years as managing director. During this time, he spearheaded expansions into new markets across Asia and ANZ, unlocking rapid growth and launched a successful new digital business for the company.
In addition to running Money 2020, Danny is also serves as the host of the top 100 business podcasts, digital transformation and leadership and is a guest host on topics, including digital transformation technology, leadership, and other leading podcasts, including South China Morning Post.
Danny Levy
So welcome, Danny. Thank you very much. Thank you for having me on on the podcast. Thank you for the introduction.
Actually, it makes me laugh when I hear sometimes worldwide business research, because I went to the US with the company a few years ago before I started with Money 2020, and I was going through immigration.
they said, oh, are you here? I said, I’m attending my company. companies are then we were running any commerce event in Palm Springs and I was going for he said oh okay what’s the name of the company I said worldwide business research and he said that sounds made up it’s so generic.
It made me laugh after that long flight from Singapore but anyway thank you for the introduction and nice to be here.
Lynn Howard
Yeah we’re super stoked to have you so tell us a little bit more of how you got into or how you got started into this business.
Danny Levy
I think if you ask most people that have worked in kind of large scale B2B events for any kind of longer period of time most will tell you that they fell into the industry.
I don’t think anyone really kind of goes to school and goes to university and think you know I want to be a large-scale event organizer or producer or sales person to be honest when I finished university.
didn’t even kind of really know the industry existed and most of the time now if I’m at a social function and you tell someone what you do they might say can you plant my wedding for me and you go that’s not really what I do but really I so I did a history degree at university and that doesn’t really take you into a profession unless you want to go off and kind of do a master’s and teach yeah or you know do a master’s in something else like in business so I probably finished university just as confused as when I started and wasn’t quite sure what I should what I should go into and I ended up kind of into kind of PR and did a short stint in PR and then when the kind of 2008 financial crash happened I was looking looking for work in London London’s an expensive place and I I saw a post in Guardian jobs about kind of a B2B defence and security
juicer and I’d done military history at university and I thought that sounded quite interesting. Maybe that would align. went for a few interviews and I got the job in London and really what it entailed was there’s different stages of events so you have kind of like stage one events which are typically smaller scale events that might happen in a conference and there might be for sorry, it happened in a hotel venue for a kind of a traditional conference and there might be like 50 to 100 people maybe slightly larger to maybe 300 that’s kind of what you consider a stage one event and the research time is shorter on the stage one event so if you’re doing large scale events which is what one of my older companies worldwide business research did on now very large scale with money 2020 you have a much longer runway in because you would have fewer events to organize but when I started I had to produce nine events a year so it was really rapid what was fascinating for me though was that I was kind of thrown in at the deep
and you kind of given a topic. My first one was unmanned aerial drones that I had to research back in 2008.
You don’t know anything about it going in and then you have basically a week or so just to conduct really intensive research.
It doesn’t sound like a long time but you end up talking to like five star military generals about unmanned aerial drones with basically no experience.
So it’s really fascinating. For me I kind of a little bit introverted so I kind of enjoyed the one-to-one deep research time.
It was before kind of video calls I guess that was all over the phone and then we have really worked on that for a few years and I went on and produced drone events, military airlift events, border security, traveled all over the world.
So it was really interesting and that kind of period I thought oh I’ll work in this for a few months obviously was extended.
went on to run one of the teams there and then the opportunity in 2000. I was in 2009, I think it was, 2010, I can’t remember now, but came up to move to Singapore.
So the company I was with was opening an office in Singapore, and they said, you want to go out and do that?
And I said, I was living in the East End of London at the time. Googled Singapore, St. Ozor Island came up, I thought this looks much better than the East End of London.
Moved to Singapore with my now wife, we were engaged at the time. We had one of those kind of service departments with a pool and a gym and the weather was grey and my wife turned to me and she said, I never want to leave this place.
And we never did, we’re still here, 15 years later. And so I worked with that company, I set that business up in Singapore, we had some good success.
then went on to work for a chemical and biological consulting firm, moved to the Hague for a short period to learn that business, we did work in Brussels with the European Union, then came back to Singapore to set that business up.
- We work with regional government and security forces. That business is about 18 months later when my first daughter was born, because I was just looking for a bit more stability, not as much travel, but I always think of that period as my mini MBA when you set up for your own business and you’ve got equity and then you’re having to wear a million different hats and you’ve got a lot of common concerns as running your own business as you would know.
then I joined the company worldwide business research in 2013 and I ran that business for a decade. grew the company from a handful of staff to about 70 staff when I left in 2022.
Took us into a bunch of new markets, launched several new business verticals and really left the business in a great place and with a lot of friends that are a really good company.
And then I had the opportunity to work for money 2020. beginning of 2023, they were coming back to Asia.
very rare you’d have that chance to kind of build a team completely from scratch with a real powerhouse brand behind you.
And I’ve never worked for a public company. So 2020 is a public business listed on the London Stock Exchange, so kind of jump to the opportunity.
And I’m still there. I’ve launched the event in Bangkok, which happened in April, which you were at, then, then podcasting.
it went really well, we’re all geared up now for the second edition. So that’s really kind of how to go, where I’ve got to.
And I would just say through my career, I’ve just tried to really seize opportunities with two hands when they have come up.
Lynn Howard
Yeah, you’re a creator and a driver, which is exciting to have. And the little bit that I’ve learned over money, about money 2020, over since I was introduced to you a year or so ago, before the event, you and some of your counterparts, or I should say.
not counterparts, but you know what I mean, those of you. Yeah, it’s such an experience. Money 2020 is not a typical tech expo or whatnot.
It really is such an experience and it was really impressive to go to for my first time. Obviously it was the first one here in Bangkok, but still just the way that you and your team conceptualize it and implement things is quite interesting, especially for the tech world, the tech startup, for those that are a bit more analytical.
know, they have a certain way about them. I was really impressed.
Danny Levy
Well, thank you. Yeah, I mean, one of the things that kind of attracted me to the business and it’s been kind of getting under the horde is that money takes more of a festival approach.
To events, so it’s really kind of the. Godfather of FinTech events. It’s been around for over a decade in the US, in Europe, and now Asia again.
But yeah, for us, because it’s a ticketed event, you know, a lot of other events may be free to attend.
But because it’s a ticketed event, everyone’s buying their delegate pass, for us, the delegate experience is really the most important thing.
Whereas maybe other would rank the sponsor experience. Number one, for us, the delegate experience is super, super important. So that really shapes everything like you’ve said from making sure attendees have a great time.
You know, we want them to feel like a rock star, whether they’re flying a drone or getting a massage or playing in an arcade or taking in groundbreaking content.
You know, we want people to really feel that they’ve made a fabulous decision on that time investment. And, you know, you can see it across the show floor, everything is premium, and we want people to be able to be relaxed.
to have a good time and, you know, make a bunch of new connections and do business and that’s a lot easier when you’re feeling good and you’re having a good time.
No one really wants to feel that they’re being shepherded in certain areas or you can’t even get water which I’ve experienced at other events and that doesn’t really add to a good few days.
So yeah, for us we really think through and discuss every little, we sweat the small stuff I would say, which makes the overall kind of big picture experience fabulous.
Lynn Howard
Yeah, you can definitely tell it was quite the experience but this podcast isn’t necessarily about money 2020. So I won’t keep going down that route because I feel like we could talk all day about that because it was super cool.
But to be a driver and to have a team of people that look up to you as a leader to be able to navigate that what would you say is maybe one of your biggest lessons that you’ve learned over the years like leading groups.
Like
Danny Levy
is often very feature-led, so it can be, you know, here’s our menu of options, option A, option B, option C, which one do you want to take, and that can work sometimes, but I think when you’re selling kind of a large conceptual product, you need to do consultative sales, so especially getting the right talent in that can, you know, you might have someone that’s only got a couple of years of sales experience, but then they’re in a room with a CEO of a large multinational and all of their kind of peers and they’re having to position your product in the best possible way, not everyone can do that.
So, you know, when we’ve built a team of money over the last couple of years of over 10 salespeople and, you know, finding those complimentary skill sets and people that can really kind of hit the ground running, you support them as best you can, but you want them to go off and excel, so that’s challenging sometimes, and I think you hire on kind of
potential experience can be a bit of a red herring sometimes you know you can see people that have got 20 years 30 years 40 years experience wonderful but especially now right where things change so quickly and every company is different they have their own quirks and unique aspects you kind of have to be able to come in with an open mind and you know unlearn sometimes what you’ve already learned pick up new things so again how quickly can they do that and and can they flex with a personality styles right because you can have within teams you want to have complementary skill sets and personality set dials and diversity of thought but if you’ve got people that are too extreme in certain areas so maybe they’re extremely controlling or they’re extremely analytical that’s that’s great and they can have very strong strengths but if you want them to work in your team you know can they flex to the other personality styles in your team or your team or the senior management always going to have to flex to them so that I think that’s something
to always think about as well is like, you know, do you have people that can adapt and kind of learn what they’ve already learned to move forward fast.
And these days as well, we’re not all in the office right, we’re travelling a lot. It’s not like it used to be where you could almost set people up and keep an eye on them all the time.
You need, you need, you need adults and you need people that, when people aren’t looking at them or they’re working from home or they’re on a business trip, they’re still going to kind of strive to do their best and be their best and their real self-starter.
I always think that you can put people in the right environment and you can give them all the tools and all the ammunition, but it’s not your job to motivate them.
I think sometimes people think that, that the leadership has to motivate their staff. But yeah, if they’re working in the right culture and they’ve got the right supportive leadership around them and all the tools to succeed, why do you have to motivate, then they should be able to motivate themselves.
yeah, that would just be it. a few things I would say. yeah, I mean, really important, get the right people on the bus and if you have to get the wrong people off there because otherwise you’ll never be able to scale.
The Pursuit of Badasserie
Absolutely. Building a team is a lot more challenging than I think people initially think it’s going to be. And you think, oh, I’m just going to hire some people.
And as long as they fit this little amount of criteria that it will be fine. But there’s definitely a lot more to building a dynamic, effective team than just arbitrary hires.
Danny Levy
Exactly. And even when you’ve built the right team, you’ve still got to invest the time to develop that team as well.
mean, you know, certainly you’ve got to give people that time investment. Maybe they don’t succeed, but you better have done everything in your power to help them succeed before they get to that point.
And that’s important as well. So your direct line reports for me, that’s super important. But then are they giving their teams enough?
time, energy, support, space, attention when they need it to also get to where they need to get to, that’s important as well.
Managing people is difficult, people are complicated, change day to day, people change week to week, top performer one month, in four months be your least performing person, and maybe that’s because of something in their personal life, right, that’s on you to figure it out.
so it’s just a constant evolution, always changing. I think the higher up you get in a business, your job titles really just chief problem solver.
You have to be open to solving problems daily because there’s always going to be a problem. And when you fix something in one department, then probably your attention comes off that department and then you notice all the problems in the other areas, right, so it’s always a balancing act and where you’re going to focus your time and energy.
there’s only one of you as well. Well, so that’s why you have to have good people around you and be able to delegate.
Lynn Howard
Yeah, it’s almost like Murphy’s Law sometimes when that happens.
Danny Levy
Yeah.
Lynn Howard
Yeah.
Danny Levy
It’s going to happen, right?
Lynn Howard
Definitely going to happen. Yeah. Yes. Well, yes. Well, when you were when you were speaking, all I kept hearing was something that I don’t know who said it, but somebody said it to me, we were having a conversation not too long ago.
And then somebody else said it right after, is salespeople are really good at selling themselves. And so as a leader, it’s our responsibility when we’re hiring sales teams.
And I know that you oversee the division for this region, is that you also have to kind of like see through that and almost still see the potential to because we’re trained to as salespeople, they’re trained to sell themselves.
And there could be potential underneath that. But unfortunately, there are lot of people who do not have the deaths behind it.
And they might not. be willing to learn. so as a leader, you know, it’s up to us to be able to navigate that and kind of see behind the stuff, as well as the potential and individuals, not just during the hiring process, but even after, because sometimes our people can lose, like disconnect from their own selves and their own potential impossibilities.
And I think that it’s a, I love the chief problem solver. And in preventative, almost, we’re always trying to like be preventative too, I think, which is what makes a good leader.
Danny Levy
Yeah, and it’s never an exact science either hiring anybody in sales included. mean, you can, they can have an awesome CV and have done some really good 10 years in places.
can have all the best references, interview well, and it still might not work out, right? You can, you can just do what you can do.
And then you might interview someone the, you know, you’re not 100% sure on, but you want to give them.
from a shop and they go on to do amazing. So, yeah, I mean, interview processes are important and you need to do your due diligence, but sometimes it may not just work out for the right or wrong reasons.
So, again, sometimes you have to trust your girl as well. It’s always a balancing act.
Lynn Howard
Well, there’s an aspect of we can only do so much. Everybody has to be responsible for their own and you said it earlier is, as a leader, it’s your job to set up the right environment, continue to nurture that right environment, that right environment will grow and change and evolve and potentially pivot depending on what’s going on around us or internally.
But at the end of the day, taking responsibility for our own inactions and actions and letting them do the same and letting that.
The Pursuit of Badasserie
Yeah, it’s definitely not an easy and then you touch right on it. It’s not a whole proof thing. I know that Lynn and I both coached people around how to hire, when to hire, etc.
And ultimately, you can have all the best things going for you and you’re sure this person is going to be great and then it doesn’t work out.
it’s tough, but it’s actually, it’s very, very common that sometimes all the right things don’t necessarily make it the right leadership in itself because you are so invested in that person even before they’ve begun the actual work and then for it to not work out before they’ve even really begun is depressing, heartbreaking sometimes when you’re in that leadership position.
Danny Levy
It is, but then at the same time, when it does work out with people, then it’s probably one of the most rewarding things in the job.
When you hire someone that you’re confident about or you just think is a high potential person and then All of a sudden, know, they’re taking on board your advice, they’re listening to those around you, they’ve got that can-do attitude, you know, they’re a leader in the team without actually being leader, maybe they go through a bit of a rocky start and then all of a sudden, you know, they take off and they accelerate and they become one of your star performers and one of your go-to people, you know, at the same time that is, that’s a brilliant feeling when you see that.
And from time to time, they may even tell you. They may even say, you know, thank you so much or they might leave and tell you, thank you for the impact you’ve had on my career, you know, I’ve gone on to do all these great things and it’s because of you, you know, I’ve had mentors and people that I can think of that that’s happened to me as well, right?
Well, they’ve invested in me and, you know, because of their confidence in me and myself and taking a chance of me, I’ve gone off to do good things.
So that’s probably one of the most rewarding things of being a leader at the same time. It doesn’t always work out, but when it does, you know, that’s really what you’re
therefore, I think, and you can change people’s lives and people’s career trajectories with the time you invest in and your kindness as well, right?
know, be a kind person. I’ve worked for unkind leaders and the ones you remember are the kind ones that maybe when the chips were down, they still invested that time and they got you back to where you needed to get to.
So, yeah, I would always say as well, try and lead with empathy and kindness at the same time because you never really know what someone’s going through unless you have that conversation.
Lynn Howard
I have to say, I love that and it’s funny. I don’t know because I only couple of you from money 2020, but I feel like that’s kind of the culture of the way your business is because of you, because of the couple of people that I do know.
And so, I think that that’s a blessing or it’s a compliment, even if it’s not necessarily a company culture in the way that you lead.
Danny Levy
There have to be some, like,
Lynn Howard
Because otherwise you would be as strong as a leader if the visions and the alignment wasn’t happening above you as well.
But it’s unique, especially with the company as large as money 2020 to have that transparency, that humility, that seeing people as human and that, like you said, the empathy at leadership position.
And I love seeing it. We love seeing it because it’s it’s, it’s not the norm even on some small, a lot of small scale businesses as well.
to see it in a large business, I think it’s a testament also to the success that you guys have.
Danny Levy
Yeah, I would say as well, I mean, I’m fortunate because worldwide business research also had it, right? It was a great company to work for.
There was a, there was a big focus there on, on work-life balance, mental health, know, making sure you feel heard.
because of that experience of WBR when I was. going through the interview process of money, know, I’d already built a very successful business at WBR and, you know, I was pretty happy where I was and I was comfortable and when I was going through the interview process, I made sure that I, know, tested for that in my questions in that interview process.
But like you said, money has a wonderful culture, but I didn’t know at the time. And I think if you’re going to spend your time anywhere, because you spend a book of your time during the week at work, know, you want to make sure that you’re working in a in a great culture, a safe culture where your your ideas are valued and where you can work in an environment to do your best work.
So I would just say, well, when you when you are interviewing with people, make sure you ask and test for that.
And you know, because that’s a that’s a really important thing. And also, you know, your direct line report or sorry, line manager, can you get on with that person, you know, make sure you almost
interview them at the same time.
The Pursuit of Badasserie
What are some questions that you always ask? What are there any questions that they’re like? This is the question I must ask at any every interview.
Danny Levy
I always ask what makes you happy at work? Because I always want to know like what gets them out in the morning and what motivates them to go into the office or to get online to keep doing what they’re doing.
I always think that’s really, really telling. I like to ask about what people do outside of work as well, because I think that’s also important, know, what kind of a rounded person are you, know, whatever it is works super important as well, like I say, but it shouldn’t be work, work, work, work, right?
So, you know, what do people do outside of work at the same time? And then probably ask people to give you an example.
So, what’s the time where you felt the most proud at work? Could you give me example of what it was and, you know, why you got the results that you were hoping to guess?
They talk you through occasionally. study, but that’s quite good as well. then I would say, could you give me an example of a time where you’ve gone out of your way for someone at work to help them, to mentor them or to get them through a more challenging or difficult situation?
Again, you get that example, but you see the personality traits of the person that you’re going to be reporting into and there’d be some of the things I would kind of ask.
I always think getting examples is good, because you get people to talk you through a story and moments in the office.
Anything you would ask that I’ve missed?
Lynn Howard
always came to add things to my tutors belt. No, I love that there are, I love all of those.
And the one thing else about that is it also allows you to see behind the superficial and as well, because sometimes we’re, especially those that are interviewing all the time, there’s those.
responses that are natural that we’ve become disconnected to the truth and I can only imagine like how some people would respond because I’ve asked some of those questions, I’ll definitely be implementing the other ones but and it almost kind of like puts them at ease but also throws them off guard a little bit and I’m always reflective on if you want different results, do something differently and so to be able to like get behind the answer you have to ask different questions.
Obviously that’s within regulation of the country that you live in because sometimes some questions can’t be asked depending on where you live in the world it’s a bit more lax than in others so but yeah I love that and it’s um and though I will add though it’s also what I love and I know I brought this up earlier is that you are meaning
hopefully asking those questions and taking them to heart not just in the interview process but also it’s a part of your company culture and because I’ve seen people who will ask these type of questions and they’re doing it because it seems like the cool thing or the now thing to ask these type of questions but they’re really not paying attention they’re not absorbing they’re not really actively listening and having that empathy and there’s no there’s no follow-through on the other side or the kind of the idea that you’re creating in that that interview environment is not necessarily the culture and the environment of the of the business and with you there’s this cohesiveness or with money 2020 and you there’s this cohesiveness which I think is another great point that we should bring up is like being a great leader is great having a great company or building a great company regardless of what position you’re in and being aligned with that vision those values those missions the the heartbeat of it right is so important
And so ask yourself, like, are you, because even if you are a leader, having those hiring questions, if you’re putting them into an environment that’s not conducive to that, even though you’re the leader, it’s going to make you feel like you’re, you’re disconnected to something and then you’re not setting them up for success.
Danny Levy
You know what I mean? Yeah, I know what you mean. I would say to you your point around, don’t just ask questions because they’re a tick box.
I mean, that’s true in interviews, but that’s true in everything, right? Especially in, in sales and research and editorial.
Too many people now just go through the motions. And then maybe they’ve got some recording software even right outside of the interview.
And they’re going to go back to it later. But if you’re going to ask a question, be be fully present in what in the moment and really listening to what you’re being told.
I think that’s becoming a bit of a lost art with all the different distractions that we have now and everything that’s going on and multitasking.
You I always think that I’m a terrible multitasker, but if you’re going to do something, you know, focus on that one thing, give it everything you’ve got and do it to the best of your ability and then move on to the next thing, right?
many times now we’re trying to do 10 things at once or five things at once and we’re doing everything badly or everything kind of average rather than everything, you know, one thing great.
So, yeah, when you ask a question, you know, back it up, really listen, and to be honest, someone doesn’t give you the best information when you ask the initial question, the great information that you’re going to get is actually in the follow-up question.
So I might say to someone, what makes you happy at work and they give me a one or a two-line response, but then it’s the follow-up questions that you’re actually going to get the interesting data or information from them, you know, what do you mean by that or could you tell me a little bit more?
I’m a bit curious as to how that worked out for you, you know, that’s where you get into the real good stuff in a conversation and so too many times nowadays people just take people at face value and also if you’re trying to build trust with someone or build a relationship or you know maybe you want to work with someone as a business partner, the only way you’ll ever kind of get them on board with you and your ideas and your businesses is to really be fully present and make sure you do ask all the right questions and people love getting asked questions, right?
People love talking about themselves and what they’re doing and their achievements and where they’ve been so you know no one’s really going to shut you down and people are always nervous about oh it’s a stupid question but there are no really stupid questions really you know as long as you ask them in the right way so yeah I think it is becoming a bit of a lost start and too much digital distraction these days as well with the other things going on.
Lynn Howard
Absolutely and I do want to drop the line I know I’m in and has a question but this is not just for business this is also going to make jump up this in the dating world I know you’re married but
Danny Levy
to tell how superficial the tick questions are and like I’m looking at my girlfriend’s like no wonder you don’t have a like a guy because you’re asking superficial questions you’re answering superficially like you’re not creating an environment that is of more depth so just after then because well I think one of the things you sent me in advance because was talking about dating them is um you know it’s advice I would give to people um and you just because you brought up partners um the the biggest piece of advice I would give is is make sure that you do choose the right life partner I know this isn’t a business thing um but it has a profound impact on business and on your life um and and asking the right questions in the dating process is uh is a surefire way to help you do that um but but the reason I say that is that um especially being in Singapore over the last 15 years we’re away from family
we’ve got a couple of kids here. We don’t have that same level of support. I’ve had to travel a lot for work.
Building companies, it’s a great thing, but it takes up a lot of your energy and headspace and time and sometimes you come home tired.
If you don’t have the right partner at home, that’s really tough. That is really, really tough. so I would just say that when you are making that decision, kind of make sure that you do pick the right partner because there’ll be your number one confidant over the years, right?
There’ll be the person you taught to the most. There’ll be the person that gives you advice when you need it.
There’ll be the person that’s your sounding board. They’ll help you when you’ve got to travel for business. They’ll help you with childcare.
It goes both ways, right? You’ve got to help them as well. But I think if you want to have any success in your life and you want to get married,
You don’t have to get married and, you know, make sure that you take your time and do the right thing.
I would say that would be my biggest piece of advice because we all will go through difficult moments in life.
There’s lots of ups and downs and there’s lots of seasons and, you know, one day something can be good, but a few months down the line, maybe you’ve had a bit of bad news or some family issues, whatever it is, and you need to have the right person there besides you helping you through things.
if you get it wrong, it can be a disaster. But if you get it right, it can be pretty good.
So I would just say that would be my biggest piece of advice because you talked about dating.
Lynn Howard
thought I’d just get that one in there. I love that.
Danny Levy
And actually, and I’m a man, can attest to this.
Lynn Howard
It’s actually one of the reasons why I’m so single because I, because I was married for years and I’ve been divorced for a while.
it is because I, not that I haven’t found the right person, but I know what I need and I know how much capacity I have and vice versa how much capacity I know.
need. And so I just haven’t went there. so I 100% agree with you because it can hold you back or you hold yourself back because of your nuances and the patterns that you play out with them.
So it’s both ways, the internal and what they do. But yeah, I love that you added that because it is super important.
The Pursuit of Badasserie
Absolutely. And I’m terminally single, but that’s exactly how I feel about it. And I’ll even go so far as to say, I also feel same way about building a partnership within a business perspective as well.
You’ve got to find a right partner, because you’re going to be the one that you’re spilling all the stuff to and you need to make sure that that partnership is good.
So I’m both fronts from a personal and from business perspective. I agree with everything you said from building that partnership is so important.
And it trickles down in ways you can’t even imagine. And I’ve definitely known plenty of people who are both clients as well as just friends.
who have had to navigate that world differently as they grow their businesses, as they grow their relationships, and it makes a big difference if you who you choose and why you choose them.
Danny Levy
Yeah, I think you’re right. mean, a business partner is also, I mean, it’s a work kind of husband or wife.
But, you know, I think you want to have all the time, as much as possible, you won’t have it all the time, you want to have positive pressure when you’re doing things.
So you’re you’re still going to feel the pressure and you’re still going to feel stress, but at least it’s in the positive mindset, right, that you know, a can-do mindset of, you know, being optimistic or cautiously optimistic, and we can go and do this thing.
I think if you have the wrong business partner or the wrong life partner, it becomes negative pressure, negative stress.
And then you don’t know necessarily how you can get yourself out of that, unless you actually break off from that partnership.
Not been through it in, in personal life, but been through it and work for sure with kind of business partners and, and that that can be.
come super stressful, right? you can have all the best ideas in the world, but if you with the wrong business partner, then that doesn’t get executed.
And it can be bizarre, things can be going well, and it can still be stressful, right? you wrote the wrong person, but if you with the right person, things can be going bad, but it’s still fun, and you still want to go to work, and you know, you still think you can get through any challenge.
So it does, it’s such a big thing, but we don’t talk about it. Nobody really talks about it. So I just think that we need to make that a bit more obvious to people, you know, is the yin and yang, right?
You won’t be able to perform unless you get that kind of partnership, right? Everything’s interconnected.
Lynn Howard
By the way, Amanda, who’s the husband who’s the wife and I are dying.
The Pursuit of Badasserie
That’s a good question, Lynn.
Lynn Howard
We’ll have to break that down. I was going to say, we’re going to have a sidebar for that. But you know, we, Amanda and I actually have this conversation a lot because,
Lynn Howard
And especially with women partnerships, we don’t see a lot of really successful entrepreneurial women partnerships in total. We definitely see some, but we, yeah, that’s a whole other podcast to break down.
I know we’re almost at a time. So, but I love that point. And I love the point about the personal because everything is interconnected.
And so what’s happening in home life is absolutely affecting your business. And vice versa, it can if you’re not aware and putting in the work or don’t have the environment set up for success.
And that includes the people.
Danny Levy
Yeah, yeah, absolutely agree. And when you when you do get to a certain point, I mean, I’m not that old, but I mean, when you look at certain things, you know, financial success or your net worth or you know, the kind of achievements you’ve got in your professional career, they always come secondary, I think, to your children and your family and the health of the family and your partnership.
So, yeah, sometimes we forget that and we put all of our chips in the business world and then that stuff falls by the wayside, including your own health.
So, you know, make sure you do invest your time in those areas as well because it’ll pay back and your career is long, right?
forget that, especially at the beginning of my career, was very impatient. I wanted to be the result. So, you know, I wanted to be an MD in a year, but, you know, it’s a long career.
You’ve got decades to invest and you can change course multiple times, but your family, you know, they may not stick around.
So, I just say, make sure you invest the time wisely and make the right choices. I’ve learned that over the years.
Kids grow up. They do. Fast.
Lynn Howard
Yeah. Tell me about it. are 26, 27, and it feels just like today they were babies and it’s insane.
grow up so quick. I mean, this has been amazing. We can continue. Can you talk to you? feel like this is so easy.
We can do a whole day with you. However, we’re coming to them. Is there any last little nugget that you’d like to leave the audience with?
Danny Levy
I would just say that I would say enjoy the journey as much as the destination because everyone wants to get to the final destination, which is whatever it is, is your picture of success.
But if you’re not enjoying the journey, then the destination isn’t really all it’s made out to be. know, I know a lot of people and myself included that might get there.
And then all of a sudden you have this kind of empty feeling and you think, what next? What do I do next?
And it’s not exactly what you thought it was going to be. And I think enjoying the journey is important as well, because I’d just give you a quick example of when I was at WBR, I mentioned I kind of threw that business.
And we went through a few really good years and we kind of came into 2020. and I was in Dubai in the beginning of 2020, we’d launched an Australia business, we’d expanded in Asia, I was in Dubai, we were going to do an event in the Middle East, and I came back in the health pandemic hit, and if you were running a large scale beat to be events business, it basically just shut down all of your opportunities and revenue streams, kind of overnight we went from everything looking super positive, I thought I’d kind of been through it pretty much every challenge I could go through, I was wrong, and it felt like both the wings had fallen off the plane, we were plummeting towards the earth and all of a sudden we were looking at cash burn and runway and you know how many months have we got, everything was turned upside down, and we don’t really talk about the pandemic as much now but I remember the time pivoting was the word, wasn’t it, you’ve got to pivot really fast, that was a really tough period, but I would just say that because I’d built the right team and because
I enjoyed the journey and I knew we had great product. That product translated into the different business verticals that we had and we went on in 2021 with no in-person events, maybe one in-person event.
We had our best ever net profit year for a long, long time and then in 2022 we beat that in about four or five months the whole year.
So it’s amazing how things can turn around even in your darkest moment. Things can turn around fast. just say trust yourself, trust your team, trust the process, enjoy the journey and really amazing things can happen even when you think it’s impossible.
So yeah, I’d leave people on that.
The Pursuit of Badasserie
I love that. Love it, love it, love it. I feel like the whole time I’m just waiting for to say the word, I had to pivot.
Danny Levy
Yeah, I had to pivot.
The Pursuit of Badasserie
Pivot episode of Friends, wasn’t there? they getting the stairs and raucous shine pivot. I like that was literally that was the three years of the pandemic.
The theme theme for those that pivot for sure. For sure. Well, thank you so much. It has been an absolute pleasure.
As Lynn said, we could talk to you forever and about many things within this. It’s fun.
Danny Levy
Sure.
The Pursuit of Badasserie
And how can people get in contact with you if they want to reach out?
Danny Levy
I’m really active on LinkedIn. It’s probably the best way to get in touch with me. So if you search Danny Levy, I’m sure I’ll come up or put in Danny Levy money 2020 to Google on my LinkedIn or come straight up.
And if you do send me a direct message on there, I’ll get back to you. And yeah, if you want to ask me any questions or learn more on money 2020, that’s the place to go.
Lynn Howard
Yeah, I want to drop a plug for money 2020. It’s not just for tech startups and those in the money vertical.
et cetera. It is, it is such an experience and it’s great to, for all types of businesses and verticals and entrepreneurs and small businesses to definitely check out money 2020.
Come see me in Bangkok because I’ll be at the Bangkok one. And yeah, so Danny, thank you so much.
Danny Levy
Thank you for the opportunity, really enjoyed it. you’ve got a brilliant podcast.
Lynn Howard
So thank you about me. Yeah, make sure you’re following Danny and go ahead and hit him up on LinkedIn.
He is a man of his words. He is so approachable, which is incredible. A man of your position and stature.
So we appreciate that. And check out money 2020, depending on where you’re listening from, they have different events all the world and Europe and Southeast Asia and the US, which the biggest one is in the US, right?
Danny Levy
Is this the biggest? Yeah, it’s going on right now, as we record this episode. Yeah, that’s the original. But Asia, Asia,
Lynn Howard
Asia will overtake that in no time.
Danny Levy
Yes.
Lynn Howard
Yeah. if you feel like this can absolutely influence or inspire somebody in your network, go ahead and share this podcast with your people so we can spread the word about being on the pursuit of bad race.
So thank you, Danny.
Danny Levy
Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity.
The Pursuit of Badasserie
All right. Everything will be in the show notes. make sure you are scrolling down just a little bit further to read more about Danny and to connect with him when you can.
Lynn Howard
Yeah.
The Pursuit of Badasserie
Until next time, get after it.
