Meet Steve Corney | Head of Learning Strategy and Digital Experience @ Learn Awesome, Life Long Learner, Bodysurfer and Options Trader

We had the good fortune of connecting with Steve Corney and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Steve, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
When I was a teenager growing up one of my favourite things to do was read non fiction books and have an exercise book filled with business ideas. My first business was using my high school home economics kitchen and hiring some of my friends to make gingerbread houses and sell them to the teachers at my school.

Over two christmases we made 100 houses and I made a few thousand dollars profit.

I did the college thing, learnt more about business there and got a few jobs after but something just didn’t feel right and didn’t fit for me. I wanted to really be able to make a difference and in order to do that I needed to be able to work the way I worked best and for the people I knew I could help / wanted to work for.

There weren’t too many jobs that could offer me that, so I took the leap and figured the worst case scenario is, that it doesn’t work and I can always come back to corporate life and get another job. So I held my breath and took a leap of faith at 23 and then never looked back. Fast forward 16 years and I am still working for myself and making a difference in my own way.

What should our readers know about your business?
I was not easy, but something I would do all again if I was given the chance to go back in time.

Learn Awesome is a digital experience agency. Basically we help our clients harness the power of digital experience to make their tribe fall in love with them, digitise their legacy, protect their knowledge and take their biz/organisation to new levels.

So we build online courses for companies in the areas of compliance, onboarding, systems etc to help staff increase capability to do more meaningful work

We help consultants, coaches and thought leaders digitise their knowledge, package and sell it into big businesses to help them move away from 1:1 and serve 1:many whilst giving more variety and content to the corporate world to boost their capability.

What sets us apart is we are completely focused on the end users and unapologetically so.

One of our core values is LEARNER FIRST, INVOICE PAYER SECOND. Which means when we are building digital experience the end user of the learner is the person we are building for.

Another things that stands us out from the rest is we live by “TEACH OUR CLIENTS TO FISH WHEREVER POSSIBLE” meaning if we build something it will be editable by the client if they want it. We will work with them to level up their internal capability so we can support them in a more meaningful capacity going forward.

Early days it was really difficult to break in to the industry. Bigger agencies and consultancies had a firm grip and we would pitch against them and not have the size or resources to compete.

The way we over came this was to make sure we provided the best experience possible when it came to pitches. We would make it fun and engaging, Have a lot of banter with our clients and stakeholders and then go above and beyond to provide samples, video explanations, meme’s and emojis to really show these people that we care about them and we were the ones for the gig.

I think one thing that’s super important about what Learn Awesome does is that we focus specifically on the WAY that content is organised for maximum impact. Whether that be learning, promotion, engagement, anything. Our clients provide the What, Why and How and we come in as specialists of the WAY.

Biggest lesson is that even people high up the corporate ladder are humans and they like to laugh, watch movies, love superheroes etc, as soon as you realise that , pitching to them and working with them becomes more human centered and less stiff.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
My City? We don’t live in the city we live out near the beach. So we would pack the boards or the canoes, the wetsuits and get going. We would stop off to get the best coffee, surf up a storm and then come back form some eggs on toast and away we go.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I think the shout out must go where it’s most due. Mumma Bear. I lost my mum in 2015 and it was one of the hardest nights of my life. She was widowed when by brother and I were young and she worked so hard to make sure my bro and I had everything we needed to be successful. She supported my ideas and pursuits post college and was always there to provide much needed insight and support. SHe also taught me the importance of legacy which is no surprise one of the main areas I work in today.

Second to that would be my good friend Andy. We are 20 years apart in age but I have never met someone who shares the same values, drive, approach and resilience. Andy has also been there for a large part of my life and has pushed me in ways I didn’t think possible and also taught me so many valuable lessons about life and business to which I’ll be forever grateful

Website: www.learnawesome.com.au

Instagram: @steve_corney

Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/thisisstevecorney

Youtube: @stevelearnsstuff

Other: stevecorney.com