Megan: I'm Megan Luttrell.
Geo: And I'm Geo George.
Megan: This is Life After Launch from the Aussie Founders Club. We cut through the startup noise with unscripted stories and tactical advice from the Founders who've built before us. This show is about what happens after you launch - the business lessons, the life lessons, and everything in between. That's Life After Launch.
Geo: Today we're joined by Nick Maxwell. Two hundred and eight games for Collingwood, captain for five seasons, All-Australian, and the man who led the Magpies to their first premiership in twenty years. He's now CEO of Eclat, a members-only workspace in Camberwell.
Geo: Nick's story starts with manure. Fifty cents a bag, shovelled off six acres into a wheelbarrow with his little brother. Three and a half grand in the first year, and he was twelve.
Geo: Then the Geelong Falcons cut him. At fourteen, at fifteen, at sixteen. At seventeen he snapped a vertebra three minutes into a trial match, and they cut him again. Fifth time down he made the squad, and still went undrafted.
Megan: There's a moment four days before Christmas where he deletes two voicemails because he's certain his mates are having him on. I'll let him tell that one.
Megan: Twenty years in sport later, he walked out to build a business from scratch. He calls the four years since the hardest of his life.
Megan: We get into resilience, leadership, and what it actually costs to build the thing. If you're building something right now, stick around to the end. Let's get into it.
Nick Maxwell: I guess young Nick was very sporty, loved my sport. So football, cricket, and basically that was it. I didn't play basketball or anything like that, but it was footy in the winter and cricket in the summer. From an entrepreneurial standpoint, I was sort of always trying to work out what was We had 6 acres and a couple of cows to keep the grass down. So my brother and I would go out and pick up all the manure in the wheelbarrow, bag it in plastic bags and put it out the front, 50 cents a bag for manure for people's plants and gardens. So we made 3.5 grand the first year doing that as like a 12-year-old and 10-year-old. So we sort of always had that. And as soon as I could possibly get a job, I did, which was KFC at 14 and 9 months. So I always sort of wanted, understood money and wanted to have my own money, I guess.
Nick Maxwell: So that was sort of, that saw me through, I guess, to 18-ish. And then footy, I guess, growing up in Geelong, you're not really seen as anyone that's gonna make it in football unless you're part of the Geelong Falcons, which is a representative side now in the Coates League. And the first opportunity came as a 14-year-old in the under-15. So 120 kids get a letter in the mail and you go down there and you train. And every few weeks they cut 10 here, 20 there, 10 here until you get down to basically the team. And so I got a letter Got down a fair way through and got right to the end and got cut. Got invited back as a 15-year-old and went through the same process and got to the end and got cut. As a 16-year-old for the under-18s, went through the same process, got to the end and I got cut. As a 17-year-old, I'd actually started playing and training a lot with the seniors as a 16-year-old. So I got really fit and improved a lot because I was putting so much work in. So I didn't want to let the senior players down. They were my heroes.
Nick Maxwell: So I was at St. Joseph's Footy Club and got into the 17-year-old year where I was invited back down for a 4th time with the Falcons. At that stage, 'cause I'd done so much work, I was really, as I said, fit and I was winning all the time trials and everything was going really well. Got to the first intra-club practice match where you get through cuts and then you get down to play against each other. And 3 minutes in, I picked up the ball, handballed it off and went to put on a shepherd and a guy jumped and stuck his knee in my back.
Nick Maxwell: snapped a vertebra in my spine, so I was out for 6 months. So I got cut. Um, I came back towards the end of that year and just sort of played with my local club. We won a premiership, which was great, under-18s. But I watched the Geelong Falcons, uh, win the premiership on the MCG before the AFL Grand Final, and I was rapt for my mates, but I was also like so jealous and so frustrated that there was players in the team that I was beating in the preseason And obviously I got injured and got cut, so I didn't get that chance. So that drove me even harder as well. You can sort of feel sorry for yourself or you can work harder. So worked harder, got to - 5th time lucky, got invited back down again, went through the whole process, made the squad, played every game that year. We had a pretty good team. We had Luke Hodge, Gary Ablett, Jimmy Bartel, Brent Moloney, Matt Maguire, Tom Davidson, Luke Mullen, Joel Reynolds, Tim Boyle. It was like 12, 13 guys from the one team ended up on AFL lists and I won Best Player in Finals in that team. So all of a sudden I had all clubs interviewing me. And what I didn't know at the time was interviewing my parents - my parents I knew, but interviewing school teachers, principal, coaches and stuff like that, trying to find out if you're a good kid or not. Didn't have social media, so you couldn't just look up and see if they were a dickhead or not like you can now. And so I didn't get drafted, but then I had 8 clubs the next day ring and wanted me to train for a rookie list position, which is basically you're with the team all the time. You're on the - you've got a 1-year contract, but you're getting paid next to nothing, but it's full-time. So decided I'd go to Port Adelaide. They had aging defenders, so to start bringing through some youth and to show how committed I was to move interstate would show how much it meant to me. So went over there. I'd been carrying a bit of a groin injury in the second half of the year. So I had some scans with me. So the first thing they do is they send you to the doctors and the physios. So I went in to see them to do my medical and he put the scan up on the wall and he said, mate, you got osteitis pubis, we can't pick you. So I've sort of gone from like the highest high to I'm finally in an AFL club to what do you - I've got this injury I'd never heard of and he's telling me I'm not gonna be here. So they had a roundtable with the coach, the footy manager and the doctor and me. And Mark Williams was the coach and he was the one who was really passionate about getting me on. He really liked me. The doctor said, we don't know how to fix this injury. And sort of no one had ever heard of it. And then every second player had it basically. It was a groin overuse 'cause I was playing school footy, playing for the Falcons as well and all the training in between. And the footy manager had to make a call and he decided to go with the doctor. So I'm pretty stubborn. So I said, let me stay for the week anyway. I thought I'll keep training and I'll prove you wrong. And I just, I would've been really annoying after having played AFL and looking back at this kid coming in, not even on the list.
Nick Maxwell: I was asking so many questions. I was going up to all the players and asking, why are you doing that like that? Or what does this look like? And I was taking notes everywhere because I was like, this is what the level I need to get to. So I got back on the Saturday. I was supposed to go to Schoolies with me mates, Lorne. We'd saved a lot of that KFC money to go down there. And because I'd missed out, the Hawks were one of those other 8 clubs. They just took Luke Hodge with pick 1 and he had the same injury but really badly. So I was like, righto, They're not scared of it. So I rang them up and they said, yeah, come train with us. So I went to Hawthorn, trained with them for a month, got to the day before the rookie draft and sat down with the recruiting manager. And he said, there's 4 of you, there's only 2 spots. In order, the priorities, number 1, John Baird, number 2, Nick Stone. I was number 3 and then Michael Georgiadis was number 4. And he said, the Kangaroos have a pick before us and we think they're gonna take John Baird.
Nick Maxwell: Looks like it'll be Stone and you. So I grew up barracking for Hawthorns. So I was like, how good's this? Hodgie's already there as well, a mate of mine. So the next day, rookie draft, Kangaroos picked John Baird, Hawks picked Nick Stone, and they picked Michael Georgiadis. And I only found out after I'd retired. I sort of ran into the recruiting manager and said, what actually happened? I was working for Channel 7. And he said, I was about to read your name out. We sort of had a last-second change of plans because Georgiadis played for Box Hill, which was Hawthorns reserves.
Nick Maxwell: And I was in rehab. So they hadn't seen me play live, or the coaches hadn't. So the coaches made a last-second call. So missed out. And so basically you've got a whole year before you can get that opportunity again. So my dad's a builder, my brother's a builder. I can't hang a picture frame. So I was never going to go down that track. It was going to be more about something else. So I got into a double degree at Ballarat University with 2 of the broadest degrees you can possibly do, human movement and management. I love human movement because I love sport, management because I love business. So I went to Ballarat and spent a year, played for the Roosters, which was a VFL team. So it was the same level I would've been playing anyway, but I was on $150 a game, not what I would've been playing AFL footy. And then I had one of the best years. Like I've still got mates from that time where you're in a uni town. So you're out of home for the first time. So that's exciting, but it's also everything's on you. So I had to get myself to uni. I had to make sure I would get my marks up. I worked at The Complete Garden selling pots and fountains and garden equipment. I worked at the Lakeview Hotel pouring pots at night.
Nick Maxwell: yard duty for Year 8 kids at Ballarat and Clarendon College, uh, and then played footy. So it was sort of a mix of everything, which was, um, basically just to pay the bills effectively.
Geo: I feel like there's a plot twist coming here because like one of the things that strikes me is you're showing a lot of chutzpah for a young guy who's had a lot of nos.
Geo: Yeah, you're just having to push through. Yeah. And like what Is that source of motivation, or is there any influences? Was it your parents? Was it the people around you that made you keep wanting to go on?
Nick Maxwell: I know reporters when I was playing footy were - they'd ask Mum and Dad that, and they're like, what was going through your mind when all this was going on? Like, and they're like, we just don't know how he keeps backing up and how he just keeps refusing to take no for an answer. So, um, they couldn't answer it. Like, I don't think you can reflect on it when you're a teenager and think that was what it was. The only thing I can possibly think of is that I was just so desperate to want that, that I'm gonna do everything I can, keep giving myself opportunity. But then also you need luck. Like there was a lot of players that were way better than what I was that didn't even get a chance. But so you need some luck. You need the right person to back you at the right time. And so, yeah, I got towards the end of that year.
Nick Maxwell: And Geelong rang me up and said, we want you to come train with us. So I went down and trained with them. Day before the rookie draft again, I was sat down by the senior coach and he said, we're not gonna draft you and we're not gonna rookie you. And I was just like, wasted another year. And I said, well, why?
Megan: How old are you at this point?
Nick Maxwell: I'm 19.
Megan: Yeah, okay, not that old. It just feels like you've gone through a big lifetime.
Nick Maxwell: Well, I said, so why? And he said, look, You're a skinny kid. We've got to bulk you up, which is true. So use our gym program. You'll be right under our nose. You'll get better coaching. You'll be playing now VFL. And I said, look, I'm already playing VFL. I've got uni, I've got jobs. Like, it just doesn't make sense to me. And he said, well, this is me giving you a chance for next year. They'll look at taking you. But if you walk out that door, you're probably not going to get a chance. And I said, look, hopefully I prove you wrong. And I shook his hand and I left. And I reckon I got to - by the time I got to the car, I was bawling my eyes out. I was like shattered because I was like, that's it, no one's gonna get another chance. And so sort of got home, I actually rang the recruiting manager of the Swans who had been one of the original 8 the year before and sort of was like, mate, I'll pay my own way, just give me a chance. Just like I was desperate because they were the only ones I sort of knew that were interested. And he said, look, we've got to go with New South Wales kids because we've got to promote the game up here. So I love you, I think you're, you're good kid and I think you, you have a future, but we just can't do it. But so I appreciate again that he was so honest with me. And so I thought that was it. So this is about 4 days before Christmas. I'd finished in Ballarat and the next day I was going to have a Christmas beer with all my schoolmates because I'd been away for the whole year.
Megan: I love those Christmas beers.
Nick Maxwell: Oh, they're the best. Yeah, yeah. Um, so I was actually - Mum was driving me in and I got a text message from my mate who said, well done the draft. I was like, what's this? And I sort of looked at my phone and I read it out to Mum and she pulled across 3 lanes of traffic and almost killed us and go, ring him, ring him. And I rang him up and I said, mate, was that meant for someone else? And he said, nah, nah, Collingwood picture. And I was like, nah, I haven't spoken to Collingwood for over a year, which was true. And he goes, nah, it's on the computer in front of me. And I said, oh, maybe it was like a projection or something, but nah, I didn't get there. And I told him the Geelong story. So it's sort of like a 5, 6 minute conversation, I guess. I said, look, anyway, I'm on my way in. I'm going to see you soon. So hang up the phone and I looked down, I've got 4 voicemail messages. I'm like, what the hell's going on here? And listen to the first one, it said, this is Noel Judkins, recruiting officer from Collingwood, I want to welcome you to the club. I was about 2 hours behind me mates and I just thought they'd be playing a prank on me and get some old guy in the pub and ring me up as a joke. Um, so I deleted it. Went down the next one, said, this is Mick Malthouse, coach of the Collingwood Footy Club, want to welcome you to the club. And I'm like, yeah, bullshit, and I deleted it. I went in the third one and it was Peter Linton, my player manager, whose voice I actually knew. He's going, you fucking beauty, and screaming down the phone. And, uh, and I thought maybe this is real. And the fourth one was Nathan Buckley, the captain. So, um, that's how I found out I got to Collingwood. So I was on a 1-year deal on $18,000 before tax. So it's not all beer and Skittles. Um, I worked at Telstra from 8 till 6 every Thursday because I couldn't live off that money. Um, and was lucky enough to Yeah, get another 1-year contract after that and debut halfway through that year and basically played the next 200+ games.
Megan: That is insane.
Geo: Wow, that is a wild story.
Megan: I have one question. You grew up in Geelong and you were barracking for Hawthorn. How did that happen?
Nick Maxwell: My granddad played reserve footy for Hawthorn and he owned, like, I think he owned the milk bar in Glenferrie Road that was next to the old town hall or something like that. So he sort of always ran Hawthorn. So just got handed down to dad and then to us. So we'd go from like Wallington down near Ocean Grove to Waverley Park and back some afternoons. So yeah.
Geo: Did you ever find out what changed in the whole picture and why Collingwood reached out?
Nick Maxwell: Well, what I, yeah, I did find out one thing. The physio for Collingwood. So physios, they don't, they're full-time with the club, but then usually they've got their own practice on the side. So there's a guy called Chris Howley who was full-time at the club and his practice was in Ballarat. And so he would treat us. So he had rang me about a week before and he was basically finding out - he was actually asked to by the recruiting manager to find out how keen Geelong were. So I said, well, yeah, I'm training with him, everything's going well. And yeah, so they look - yeah, I can't really tell you much more than that because they don't really give you much more information. And he said, how's your osteitis pubis? Was how he - like, he goes, I just want to check on you in the offseason because he was helping with - he'd seen me a few times. And I said, you know, it's all good. I've been training the whole time with them, trained for, yeah, a month. I'm all good. He's like, all right, no worries at all. So he'd sort of just - I'm like, what a good bloke, just ringing up to check on me. Yeah, just checking up on you. I was like, how good's this? And he's a good bloke, um, who obviously became mates with down the track. But, uh, yeah, he was actually asked to ring in to find out from the recruiting manager. And, uh, and that's why they took me with their first pick, because they worried Geelong was going to pick me if they Delay that anymore.
Geo: Nick's big debut was halfway through his second season at Collingwood and from there he went on to play over two hundred games. Nick's insight was to realise that he was never the most talented player but what he did with that insight is what made him captain.
