Operating as your authentic self with ferocious intention with Ben Handler

Episode #3

Pauline Nguyen and special guest Ben Handler

Ben Handler is one of my favourite people in the whole wide world and it has been a joy to witness his transformation and evolution into a thriving spiritual entrepreneur.

He is someone who is truly living life by design and operating out of deep authenticity.

Not only is Ben an extraordinary businessman, but he is also a person with deep spiritual yearning. He has a strong awareness and connection to nature, to his intuition and to the greater purpose of up-levelling the consciousness of the earth.

Ben was the co-founder of Australia's largest buyers' agency, Cohen Handler. After exceeding his initial goals and obtaining enormous success with Cohen Handler, Ben’s soul called him elsewhere. Through a huge process of transformation, letting go of his ego, and being willing to trust and face his fears, Ben launched Buyer’s Agent Institute (BAI).

BAI provides training to help people turn buying property into a career. Not only a new career but a complete life transformation.

Ben’s transition out of Cohen Handler to pursue his own path required a lot of letting go, self-awareness and willingness to learn. His advice to others feeling incongruence in their lives is to cut out the noise and trust that inner voice.

Abiding in the beautiful surfing towns of Angourie and Byron Bay, Ben has focused deeply on building a life. So many entrepreneurs spend all their time building businesses, but the profound impact of designing his life is evident.

Ben knows the joy of existence, the medicine of nature, and the deep appreciation for life. It was a delight to explore his life and learnings over a warming cup of Tiger Purrr chai.

Topics Discussed

[0:00]	Today’s guest is Ben Handler, co-founder of Australia's largest buyers' agency, Cohen Handler. He has evolved to embrace and thrive as a spiritual entrepreneur, living a life by design.
[02:20]	We recall being in Zurich together in 2015 where Ben brought his own tea bags to a bar. Ben talks about why he stopped drinking alcohol and chose tea instead.
[04:00]	Ben was rebellious during his school years and has always been a creative visionary.
[05:45]	Exiting the corporate world and kickstarting Cohen Handler. Australian consumer awareness about buyers' agents was low but the deep commitment to the company is what promoted them.
[6:54]	Nobody was asking the types of questions that Matt was asking at his young age. He had to learn to adapt and knew he was different to other children. Creativity and music became an outlet for his feelings.
[8:37]	Music to Matt is the word made flesh. Music inspires memories, events, and evokes incredible emotion.
[09:15]	One of Ben’s values while running the business was fun. With a team of 70 people and a lot of diversity, this meant a lot of social activities and allowing transparent communication.
[11:25]	Ben loves the process of seeing people transform.
[13:00]	Ben spent a lot of time building companies but has now been focusing on building a life. He’s made big lifestyle changes to embrace hobbies like surfing.
[15:00]	BAI helps people turn buying property into a career. They teach people how to transform their lives through sales, marketing, building a business and becoming entrepreneurs.
[17:00]	A lot of people in BAI are passionate about property and are in jobs they don’t love. Ben shares a success story about a nurse from Africa who now runs his own 7-figure buyers’ agency.
[19:15]	Ben knew that he was no longer leading with his heart and needed to move on from Cohen Handler. He went through a huge process, letting go of his ego, facing fear and limiting beliefs. This gave him an understanding of others in BAI who are transitioning between careers.
[21:30]	Don’t try to get approval from others about a new direction. You need to have a level of self-awareness where you feel intuitively what is the right thing to do. Everyone has an opinion but you need to cut out the noise.
[23:40]	During the creative process, Ben spent a lot of time executing and ended up withdrawing from people in order to focus. He now has 10 in his team, all working remotely.
[25:45]	Ben talks about his experiences in India and the lack of community he feels in Australia. He goes to India with an open mind to learn: from yoga to deep cleansing through panchakarma.
[28:00]	Ben lives between Byron Bay and Angourie. We talk about building a life and why this is so profound.
[30:00]	A lot of people misunderstand how much Ben cares. We talk about our deep gratitude and connection with nature and the joy of existence.
[34:00]	Being around his animals makes Ben purrr.