Walter Villagonzalo left the military in the Philippines during the 1986 revolution and moved to Australia with his family soon after. He built a career, then found himself needing something no job could give him: a sense of belonging. That search took him from volunteering in Werribee's Filipino community to founding The Migrant Hub, sitting as Wyndham City Councillor and Deputy Mayor, and now leading a cooperative planting trees across the western suburbs.

In this episode of My Migrant Soul, Walter sits down with Imran to talk about the twelve years it took him to feel at home in Australia, the moment his own children told him they were Australian, and why he believes belonging isn't given — it's built by showing up for your community.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Belonging isn't handed to you when you arrive in a new country. Walter didn't feel it for over a decade, and it only came after he threw himself into community work.
The deepest test of his identity didn't happen in council chambers — it happened when his own kids told him, through tears, that they were Australian.
He ran for council five times before winning. Losing four elections didn't change his approach; it sharpened it.

Walter draws a clear line between being an activist and being a reformist — one makes noise, the other gets in the room and changes the policy.
His concept of "the Filipino in the middle" reframes an entire community: most migrants aren't struggling or thriving, they're quietly present, and that quiet middle is where real leadership can start.

At 73, his answer to "what's next" is the same as it's always been: keep working for the community, this time through a tree nursery cooperative aiming to help plant a million trees.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Cold Open: "I Am First Class Citizen, I Am Australian"
00:38 - Welcome to My Migrant Soul & Introducing Walter Villagonzalo
02:36 - From Naval Officer to Migrant: Leaving the Philippines in 1986
03:52 - Building a New Life in Melbourne
04:44 - The Struggle to Feel Like You Belong
05:47 - Bringing the Family Back to the Philippines — and the Kids Who Said No
06:39 - Diving Fully Into Community Work
08:16 - Founding The Migrant Hub
09:15 - Turning Advocacy Into Real Change at Council
11:05 - Running for Council Five Times Before Winning
12:59 - Life as One of Two Migrant Councillors
15:10 - The Filipino in the Middle: Lessons on Belonging
16:44 - Advice for New Migrants: Give Back to Belong
18:34 - Current Projects: Tree Nurseries and the Canopy Accelerator Co-op
20:26 - Partnering With Lions Club to Plant a Million Trees
21:24 - Closing Thoughts

GUEST INFORMATION

Walter Villagonzalo
OAM Founder & President, The Migrant Hub Inc. and Canopy Accelerator Co-operative Limited Community Development
Social Enterprise

Connect with Walter Villagonzalo
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/waltervillagonzalo/
Website: https://canopyaccelerator.coop/

Every migrant has a story—of dreams, struggles, and triumphs. My Migrant Soul brings you powerful, real-life conversations with migrants from diverse backgrounds who have navigated the challenges of starting over in a new land. Hosted by Imran Abul Kashem, this podcast sheds light on personal migration journeys, cultural transitions, and the resilience that fuels success.

HOST INFORMATION

Imran Abul Kashem
Founder, My Migrant Soul
Serial Entrepreneur, Former Journalist and Personal Branding Expert

Connect with Imran:
Website: https://westendpodcast.au/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@mymigrantsoul-aus
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imran_abul_kashem_melbourne/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/imranabulkashem/

Subscribe for more real stories of migration, identity, and human experience.
Got a story to tell? Start your podcast with Westend Podcast: https://www.westendpodcast.com.au

Tim Beanland started cold calling at 18 for a debt reduction firm and getting hung up on. Now he runs Video Authority, a Melbourne video production business that turns a single 45-minute filming session into three months of content, and he closes 90% of his sales calls. In this episode, Tim walks Imran through the exact moment he realized nobody buys from a stranger but everybody listens to a brand they trust, how a broke university student turned a $200 cash tip into a full-time business, and why he tells every aspiring marketer to skip the degree and go sell something first. The conversation also goes somewhere Tim says he's never said publicly before: the reason a desk inside Melbourne's Rialto Towers means more to him than office real estate ever should.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

A message lands differently depending on who's delivering it, the same offer that gets hung up on from a stranger gets a "let's talk" from a trusted name.
A marketing degree teaches you why people buy; a sales job teaches you how to get them to. Tim argues you need the second one first.
Tactics change every few years: social media, AI, whatever's next. Human buying psychology doesn't. Build strategy around the constant, not the trend.
Don't build a website and a lead funnel before you've served a single client. Find one customer, deliver for them, and use that feedback to find the next.
Networking works because of who the people in the room know, not who's actually in the room.
A reliable sales system is what keeps a business alive, Tim calls it the oxygen a business runs on.
Tim's five-year goal is tied to family: he's working toward owning space in the Rialto Towers, the building his late father engineered and where his parents met.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Cold Open: The $200 Video Deal
00:55 - Meet Tim Beanland
01:57 - What Tim Does: 3 Months of Content in 45 Minutes
02:33 - The Cold Call That Changed His Career
03:52 - Been Talking: Why Trust Makes Sales Easy
05:00 - Does a Marketing Degree Actually Matter?
07:03 - Tactics Change, Human Psychology Doesn't
09:49 - Why Marketing and Sales Need Each Other
10:41 - Lessons From Sales: Get Out of the House
11:09 - How Tim Started His Business: 50 Coffee Chats
12:18 - The Yohan Story: Getting Paid for the First Time
14:44 - "Nothing Happens Without a Sale"
15:33 - The Power of Networking
16:07 - Find One Client Before You Build a Brand
18:03 - Different Networks for Different Stages
19:38 - Why Tim Sponsors Imran's Networking Events
22:00 - Tim's Dream for the Next Five Years
23:24 - The Rialto Towers and His Dad
25:23 - Advice for Aspiring Marketers: Learn to Sell First
27:23 - Where to Find Tim + Closing Thoughts

GUEST INFORMATION

Tim Beanland
Founder, Video Authority
Video Marketing & Personal Branding

Connect with Tim:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tbeanland/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/timbeanland/
Website: https://videoauthority.com.au/

Every migrant has a story—of dreams, struggles, and triumphs. My Migrant Soul brings you powerful, real-life conversations with migrants from diverse backgrounds who have navigated the challenges of starting over in a new land. Hosted by Imran Abul Kashem, this podcast sheds light on personal migration journeys, cultural transitions, and the resilience that fuels success.

HOST INFORMATION

Imran Abul Kashem
Founder, My Migrant Soul
Serial Entrepreneur, Former Journalist and Personal Branding Expert

Connect with Imran:
Website: https://westendpodcast.au/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@mymigrantsoul-aus
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imran_abul_kashem_melbourne/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/imranabulkashem/

Subscribe for more real stories of migration, identity, and human experience.
Got a story to tell? Start your podcast with Westend Podcast: https://www.westendpodcast.com.au

Richard Cozzella opens up about building a career from a tanning studio in Geelong at 19 to a portfolio spanning NDIS disability housing, insurance, and property development. He talks candidly about the near-failure that taught him resilience, the "20 meters of headlights" way he approaches big decisions, and why he doesn't chase retirement — he's chasing mentorship. The conversation also gets personal, touching on faith, fatherhood, and the charity ride he organized for his niece.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Failure isn't the opposite of success, it's part of the process. "Either we win or we learn."
• Vision doesn't require seeing the whole road, just the next 20 meters.
• Before scaling a business, count the cost of losing, not just the upside of winning.
• Change in a business often has to start at the top before it reaches the rest of the team.
• Personal branding rests on three pillars: authority, results, and trust.
• Self-care isn't optional for founders — Richard leans on faith and fitness to stay grounded.
• The next 10 years, for Richard, aren't about retiring — they're about mentoring others.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Teaser: Motivation, Mindset & Belief
00:56 - Meet Richard Cozzella
01:16 - Who Richard Is Today
01:41 - Where It Began: Family Business Roots
02:13 - The Headlights Metaphor
02:39 - First Business: The Tanning Studio Near-Failure
03:16 - Becoming a Serial Entrepreneur
03:41 - Win or Learn: Reframing Failure
05:00 - The Best Business Day of His Life
05:37 - Mindset, Motivation & Belief
06:52 - Starting a Charity for His Niece
07:39 - COVID, Innovation & Thinking Outside the Box
08:39 - Fixing the NDIS Business
10:08 - Advice for Dreamers & Personal Branding
11:36 - Trust in the Digital Age
12:16 - Work-Life Harmony, Faith & Self-Care
13:39 - Current Projects: Housing & Insurance
14:05 - The Next 10 Years: Mentorship & Legacy
15:49 - A Future Charity
16:10 - Closing Thoughts

GUEST INFORMATION

Richard Cozzella
Entrepreneur, Business Consultant & Community Leader
Business Development, Strategic Consulting, NDIS & Insurance

Connect with Richard:

• LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/in/cozzellarc
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1JTw9zxuoc/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/richard_cozzella
• Website: https://cozzella.com.au/

Every migrant has a story—of dreams, struggles, and triumphs. My Migrant Soul brings you powerful, real-life conversations with migrants from diverse backgrounds who have navigated the challenges of starting over in a new land. Hosted by Imran Abul Kashem, this podcast sheds light on personal migration journeys, cultural transitions, and the resilience that fuels success.

HOST INFORMATION

Imran Abul Kashem
Founder, My Migrant Soul
Serial Entrepreneur, Former Journalist and Personal Branding Expert

Connect with Imran:

• Website: https://westendpodcast.au/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@mymigrantsoul-aus
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imran_abul_kashem_melbourne/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/imranabulkashem/

Subscribe for more real stories of migration, identity, and human experience.

Got a story to tell? Start your podcast with Westend Podcast: https://www.westendpodcast.com.au