1 00:00:04,200 --> 00:00:06,780 Sean: Welcome to the Fear and Greed Daily Interview. I'm Sean 2 00:00:06,870 --> 00:00:10,799 Sean: Aylmer. When you think of companies known for innovation, it's 3 00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:13,860 Sean: hard to go past Dyson, and it's even more impressive 4 00:00:13,860 --> 00:00:16,680 Sean: when you consider that it all started with one person, 5 00:00:16,710 --> 00:00:20,250 Sean: James Dyson, who was sick of his vacuum clogging with 6 00:00:20,250 --> 00:00:23,579 Sean: dust. Fast forward 45 years and Dyson now has more 7 00:00:23,579 --> 00:00:28,440 Sean: than a thousand engineers worldwide, machines sold in over 65 8 00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:31,620 Sean: countries. It's an incredible success story and shows the power 9 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:34,950 Sean: of invention in how that can become a brand. Kelly 10 00:00:34,950 --> 00:00:38,940 Sean: Morgan is the national sales capability manager at Dyson, which 11 00:00:38,940 --> 00:00:41,190 Sean: is a supporter of this podcast. Kelly, welcome to Fear 12 00:00:41,190 --> 00:00:41,700 Sean: and Greed. 13 00:00:42,300 --> 00:00:43,800 Kelly: Thank you. Thanks for having me. 14 00:00:45,330 --> 00:00:47,280 Sean: That is a true story, isn't it, that James Dyson 15 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:50,309 Sean: just decided to invent a better vacuum cleaner? 16 00:00:50,700 --> 00:00:53,279 Kelly: Well, I always think there's a flaw Sean, in a 17 00:00:53,280 --> 00:00:56,850 Kelly: man vacuuming. I know that can be quite controversial because the 18 00:00:56,850 --> 00:01:00,330 Kelly: vacuuming by a male in my house doesn't happen too 19 00:01:00,330 --> 00:01:03,300 Kelly: often. But I know I've had a lot of females 20 00:01:03,300 --> 00:01:05,670 Kelly: come to me now to tell me, thank you to 21 00:01:05,670 --> 00:01:09,360 Kelly: Mr. Dyson for inventing such an intriguing vacuum cleaner, because 22 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:12,000 Kelly: now my husband, all he wants to do is vacuum. 23 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:18,810 Sean: Right. Saving marriages, James Dyson saving marriages. I like that. But the original was 24 00:01:18,810 --> 00:01:21,240 Sean: in is in the museum of modern art, New York, isn't it? 25 00:01:21,780 --> 00:01:25,319 Kelly: That's correct. There's still a few around. There's one in 26 00:01:25,319 --> 00:01:28,140 Kelly: the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. We have one 27 00:01:28,140 --> 00:01:31,560 Kelly: at our head office in Malmesbury in the UK. I 28 00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:34,290 Kelly: think now, we've got a second head office in Singapore, 29 00:01:34,290 --> 00:01:37,230 Kelly: there's one in there, but there are few and far between 30 00:01:37,230 --> 00:01:40,830 Kelly: now to see. But yeah the DC01, such an intriguing 31 00:01:40,830 --> 00:01:46,140 Kelly: invention. As you say, came around with James's real inquisitive 32 00:01:46,380 --> 00:01:50,610 Kelly: engineering thought process of, ' 'Why is this expensive vacuum cleaner, 33 00:01:50,790 --> 00:01:54,720 Kelly: not picking things up from the floor?'' Led to then 34 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:58,020 Kelly: him thinking of a concept that would work of how 35 00:01:58,020 --> 00:02:01,410 Kelly: could dust be separated. A Bag clogged up with the 36 00:02:01,410 --> 00:02:04,080 Kelly: tiny pores with all the dust and debris that was 37 00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:06,570 Kelly: coming up. And it was actually a sawmill that he 38 00:02:06,570 --> 00:02:10,169 Kelly: used to drive past every day when he was going 39 00:02:10,169 --> 00:02:13,620 Kelly: from work and looked at it and said, ' 'That spins 40 00:02:13,620 --> 00:02:17,100 Kelly: out saw dust at a high centrifugal force.'' So spinning 41 00:02:17,100 --> 00:02:20,220 Kelly: the air round and round very quickly. And it takes 42 00:02:20,220 --> 00:02:23,100 Kelly: all of the large debris down to the bottom of 43 00:02:23,100 --> 00:02:25,470 Kelly: this cyclone. And the clean air goes up through the 44 00:02:25,470 --> 00:02:28,739 Kelly: top. So he went home, he took apart his vacuum 45 00:02:28,740 --> 00:02:31,410 Kelly: cleaner. He got the sticky tape out. He got some 46 00:02:31,410 --> 00:02:35,220 Kelly: toilet rolls and he started to put this concept together 47 00:02:35,220 --> 00:02:39,180 Kelly: of removing the bag and having something that would, in 48 00:02:39,180 --> 00:02:42,510 Kelly: a cyclonic motion, separate this dust and dirt. Low and 49 00:02:42,510 --> 00:02:46,530 Kelly: behold, actually the first prototype was bingo, it worked. 50 00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:50,280 Sean: Dyson has really always been about engineering and innovation, right 51 00:02:50,280 --> 00:02:54,570 Sean: from day one. Anytime that I look for Dyson products, 52 00:02:54,810 --> 00:02:59,100 Sean: inevitably, you buy them because they're a step in front 53 00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:03,209 Sean: of a competitor, or at least advertised as a step in front of a competitor. 54 00:03:03,990 --> 00:03:07,950 Kelly: Oh always we are thinking of things before people know 55 00:03:07,950 --> 00:03:11,070 Kelly: they need it. So who would've thought you needed a 56 00:03:11,070 --> 00:03:16,530 Kelly: cordless vacuum cleaner? Who would've thought? Where Michael told us 57 00:03:16,530 --> 00:03:19,440 Kelly: previously that he was vacuuming with something that he plugged 58 00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:22,980 Kelly: into the wall and that was fine, but now everyone 59 00:03:22,980 --> 00:03:26,310 Kelly: needs or wants a cord free, so they can just 60 00:03:26,310 --> 00:03:29,369 Kelly: go and clean the variety of areas within the house. 61 00:03:29,970 --> 00:03:31,889 Kelly: And we've known people to take it outside of the 62 00:03:31,889 --> 00:03:34,830 Kelly: house. We've got people who've bought cord free machines specifically 63 00:03:34,830 --> 00:03:37,830 Kelly: for their boats to go camping, to just clean out 64 00:03:37,830 --> 00:03:41,130 Kelly: their car. This is how we change people's way of cleaning. 65 00:03:42,630 --> 00:03:45,270 Sean: I want to get onto that in a moment, but just a few things. So James 66 00:03:45,270 --> 00:03:47,340 Sean: Dyson, we talked about him, he's still involved in the 67 00:03:47,340 --> 00:03:48,390 Sean: company? That's a question. 68 00:03:48,930 --> 00:03:52,260 Kelly: He is, absolutely, yeah. He still goes to work every 69 00:03:52,260 --> 00:03:55,440 Kelly: day. We actually have a CEO who looks after the 70 00:03:55,440 --> 00:04:00,240 Kelly: business side. James, his title is chief engineer. So he 71 00:04:00,240 --> 00:04:04,680 Kelly: really is at the heart of engineering, questioning, what could 72 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:07,290 Kelly: we do differently here? How does this work? Could it 73 00:04:07,290 --> 00:04:11,670 Kelly: work better? And so he's really there feeding the engineering 74 00:04:11,670 --> 00:04:15,480 Kelly: side. And we've just had the first set of graduates 75 00:04:15,540 --> 00:04:21,330 Kelly: leave the Dyson university, where James Dyson's foundation actually pays 76 00:04:21,330 --> 00:04:24,930 Kelly: for the students to do their four year engineering degree. 77 00:04:25,350 --> 00:04:27,570 Kelly: They do some practical hands- on with all of our 78 00:04:27,570 --> 00:04:30,869 Kelly: Dyson engineers, but then they also take a couple of 79 00:04:30,870 --> 00:04:33,510 Kelly: days out to study, so that they can then go 80 00:04:33,510 --> 00:04:37,170 Kelly: on to take the exam in engineering and be qualified. 81 00:04:37,380 --> 00:04:40,260 Kelly: Some stay on with Dyson, others then go on and 82 00:04:40,260 --> 00:04:44,370 Kelly: continue their engineering journey with other companies, which is fine. 83 00:04:44,940 --> 00:04:46,920 Sean: Stay with me Kelly, we'll be back in a minute. 84 00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:56,400 Sean: My guest this morning is Kelly Morgan from Dyson. Okay, 85 00:04:56,400 --> 00:04:59,790 Sean: so Dyson the company, so you've been with them for 86 00:04:59,790 --> 00:05:03,000 Sean: 20 years or so, how has it changed? But more 87 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:07,920 Sean: importantly, how is it changing now? Because it certainly isn't immune 88 00:05:08,250 --> 00:05:10,560 Sean: to the rest of the world and what's going on 89 00:05:10,560 --> 00:05:12,210 Sean: around it. And I really want to get into air 90 00:05:12,210 --> 00:05:14,100 Sean: filtering and things like that eventually, but just tell us 91 00:05:14,100 --> 00:05:16,740 Sean: a little bit about what's changed since you have started, 92 00:05:16,740 --> 00:05:18,270 Sean: but where it's going now as well. 93 00:05:19,170 --> 00:05:22,470 Kelly: Yeah, so the trajectory was, when I first started 20 94 00:05:22,470 --> 00:05:26,190 Kelly: years ago, we just talked about vacuum cleaners. Since then, 95 00:05:26,190 --> 00:05:28,680 Kelly: we've gone into various categories. 96 00:05:28,680 --> 00:05:30,301 Sean: God, that must have been a fun place to work. 97 00:05:30,301 --> 00:05:33,960 Kelly: Oh, it really was. And at the time when I was in 98 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:38,790 Kelly: the UK, the facility for making the machines was there 99 00:05:38,790 --> 00:05:42,210 Kelly: in the UK. Obviously as we've grown as a business, our 100 00:05:42,210 --> 00:05:45,900 Kelly: manufacturing has gone over to Asia, but it started out 101 00:05:45,900 --> 00:05:50,070 Kelly: very much in the UK. And I saw DC01s being 102 00:05:50,070 --> 00:05:53,460 Kelly: put together and went on a production line and James 103 00:05:53,460 --> 00:05:56,070 Kelly: was there to go and see everything, see how everything 104 00:05:56,070 --> 00:06:00,089 Kelly: was being made. Could, again, anything change, do differently, be 105 00:06:00,089 --> 00:06:04,830 Kelly: more efficient. That was the roots of where we were 106 00:06:04,830 --> 00:06:08,100 Kelly: and we still have that campus, but now we've grown 107 00:06:08,130 --> 00:06:13,560 Kelly: into various countries, territories. We are sold in a good 108 00:06:13,560 --> 00:06:19,170 Kelly: proportion of countries across the world. And we're still solving problems 109 00:06:19,170 --> 00:06:23,190 Kelly: that people didn't know they had. A hair dryer didn't 110 00:06:23,190 --> 00:06:25,410 Kelly: need to have a massive hole in it. Yes it 111 00:06:25,410 --> 00:06:29,010 Kelly: did, because we moved a motor that was heavy, big 112 00:06:29,010 --> 00:06:32,100 Kelly: power consumption. We put it in the handle to make 113 00:06:32,100 --> 00:06:35,640 Kelly: it much more ergonomic and quicker to dry hair. And 114 00:06:35,640 --> 00:06:40,350 Kelly: people now can't live without their Dyson Supersonic. It's again, 115 00:06:40,350 --> 00:06:44,070 Kelly: just really thinking about what we've got currently and how we 116 00:06:44,070 --> 00:06:48,180 Kelly: can change it. Beauty came five years ago. Our latest 117 00:06:48,180 --> 00:06:52,380 Kelly: innovation, if you've seen, is the Dyson Zone. This is 118 00:06:52,380 --> 00:06:56,279 Kelly: where we are taking personal purification. It has a mask 119 00:06:56,279 --> 00:06:58,680 Kelly: around the mouth area to take in all of the 120 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:03,240 Kelly: dirty air, but it also has headphones. There's a sound, 121 00:07:03,240 --> 00:07:05,520 Kelly: you'll be able to listen to your music, listen to 122 00:07:05,520 --> 00:07:09,600 Kelly: this podcast in Australia, and have clean air whilst we're 123 00:07:09,630 --> 00:07:13,440 Kelly: walking. Again, who would've thought we would've needed that, but 124 00:07:13,830 --> 00:07:16,680 Kelly: a pandemic has told us that more people are now conscious 125 00:07:16,680 --> 00:07:19,740 Kelly: of what they're breathing in. So that's how we've moved 126 00:07:19,740 --> 00:07:24,150 Kelly: along in 20 years. I started with one category, we're 127 00:07:24,150 --> 00:07:27,780 Kelly: now in four categories and expanding into many more to 128 00:07:27,780 --> 00:07:30,090 Kelly: come in the next five to 10 years. 129 00:07:30,390 --> 00:07:32,610 Sean: So Kelly, just tell me how bad is the air 130 00:07:32,610 --> 00:07:35,610 Sean: we breathe? Particularly indoors, which is where I get more worried. 131 00:07:36,330 --> 00:07:39,060 Kelly: Yeah, I think breathing is one of those things that 132 00:07:39,060 --> 00:07:41,310 Kelly: we just take for granted. We don't really think about 133 00:07:41,310 --> 00:07:44,700 Kelly: what's going in and out. And an average adult can 134 00:07:44,700 --> 00:07:48,930 Kelly: breathe in over 10, 000 liters of air a day. And when 135 00:07:48,930 --> 00:07:52,230 Kelly: we've done some research, we know that we are spending 136 00:07:52,230 --> 00:07:55,830 Kelly: a significant proportion of our time indoors. And we forget 137 00:07:55,830 --> 00:07:59,850 Kelly: about that there's the pollutants every day. This could be things 138 00:07:59,850 --> 00:08:05,070 Kelly: like bacterias. But then from our furniture, we've got formaldehyde. 139 00:08:05,250 --> 00:08:09,330 Kelly: It could be things from cooking. We are just not aware 140 00:08:09,330 --> 00:08:12,060 Kelly: of what we've got inside. We tend to think of 141 00:08:12,060 --> 00:08:17,280 Kelly: pollution outside. And after a significant... We had the bushfires, 142 00:08:17,490 --> 00:08:19,830 Kelly: we've had the rain and we've seen the mold, and 143 00:08:20,100 --> 00:08:24,480 Kelly: all of that now has heightened people's senses of actually outside 144 00:08:24,480 --> 00:08:27,780 Kelly: is quite polluted, forgetting that if we close the door 145 00:08:27,780 --> 00:08:30,510 Kelly: and we go inside, ' 'Well then we're okay aren't we?'' 146 00:08:31,500 --> 00:08:35,250 Kelly: So that's where we really started to think about what 147 00:08:35,820 --> 00:08:39,000 Kelly: do we need to help the indoor environment? And that's 148 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:42,630 Kelly: where the engineers started to look at purification, is that 149 00:08:42,630 --> 00:08:46,709 Kelly: the Dyson purifier will be able to sense, we've got 150 00:08:46,710 --> 00:08:50,520 Kelly: sensors that when anything is activating, it knows, when it's 151 00:08:50,520 --> 00:08:54,179 Kelly: in an auto mode, to switch on and therefore it'll 152 00:08:54,179 --> 00:08:56,699 Kelly: start to purify a room. And that can, as I 153 00:08:56,700 --> 00:08:59,880 Kelly: say, be something really as small as you are cooking 154 00:08:59,880 --> 00:09:03,750 Kelly: something, or you've got flowers. Most people now throughout the 155 00:09:03,750 --> 00:09:06,929 Kelly: pandemic went and got a dog. Research tells us most 156 00:09:06,929 --> 00:09:10,559 Kelly: people bought a dog throughout the pandemic and they come 157 00:09:10,559 --> 00:09:12,929 Kelly: in from a nice walk outside and bring a bit 158 00:09:12,929 --> 00:09:16,650 Kelly: of pollen and some other bacterias in, shake it all 159 00:09:16,650 --> 00:09:17,851 Kelly: out and we breathe it in. 160 00:09:17,851 --> 00:09:18,121 Sean: Fair enough. 161 00:09:19,470 --> 00:09:21,660 Kelly: We need a device that will be able to take 162 00:09:21,660 --> 00:09:22,559 Kelly: all of that away. 163 00:09:22,890 --> 00:09:26,400 Sean: So where is Dyson going? Innovation is at the heart 164 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:29,850 Sean: of everything you do. What is beyond the air we 165 00:09:29,850 --> 00:09:31,080 Sean: breathe effectively? 166 00:09:31,830 --> 00:09:34,140 Kelly: Oh Sean, I don't think I could tell you those secrets. 167 00:09:34,140 --> 00:09:34,290 Sean: Come on. 168 00:09:38,190 --> 00:09:40,979 Kelly: The big one that, where everybody saw that we were 169 00:09:40,980 --> 00:09:44,579 Kelly: going into a direction, was with the car. And unfortunately 170 00:09:44,580 --> 00:09:47,010 Kelly: that just didn't come to anything. There is a car 171 00:09:47,010 --> 00:09:50,490 Kelly: actually in our Singapore office on display as the one and 172 00:09:50,490 --> 00:09:53,940 Kelly: only Dyson car that never was. Of course, we're always 173 00:09:53,940 --> 00:09:57,179 Kelly: looking at how things can be improved. And we've got a 174 00:09:57,179 --> 00:10:00,570 Kelly: plan for the next five years that we will definitely 175 00:10:00,570 --> 00:10:03,660 Kelly: be in new categories that Dyson are not currently in, 176 00:10:03,809 --> 00:10:06,780 Kelly: but we'll also expand in the categories that we are 177 00:10:06,780 --> 00:10:09,540 Kelly: in. So I can only say watch this space, Sean, 178 00:10:09,660 --> 00:10:12,270 Kelly: but make sure you've got space in your home for 179 00:10:12,270 --> 00:10:13,620 Kelly: all these extra products. 180 00:10:13,830 --> 00:10:16,140 Sean: I will. The other I'm just interested with Dyson is 181 00:10:16,140 --> 00:10:18,540 Sean: the brand itself. Now I told you an anecdote off 182 00:10:18,540 --> 00:10:21,960 Sean: air, just about how my sister always used Dyson vacuum 183 00:10:21,960 --> 00:10:25,679 Sean: cleaners, which I didn't think anything of until I tried 184 00:10:25,679 --> 00:10:29,189 Sean: it and suddenly think, ' 'Oh, okay, now I get it.'' The 185 00:10:29,190 --> 00:10:32,340 Sean: whole Dyson brand thing, it really has a life of 186 00:10:32,340 --> 00:10:36,179 Sean: its own. It must be incredibly important to protect that reputation. 187 00:10:36,990 --> 00:10:41,160 Kelly: For sure. And where we have control... We have everything 188 00:10:41,160 --> 00:10:44,850 Kelly: in house, James, we have all of our own employed 189 00:10:45,090 --> 00:10:48,239 Kelly: customer service. It's not out to a third party. They 190 00:10:48,240 --> 00:10:52,860 Kelly: all work for Dyson. All our content is all created in- 191 00:10:52,860 --> 00:10:56,189 Kelly: house, so we can keep a hold on what our 192 00:10:56,190 --> 00:11:00,510 Kelly: brand is. And we've significant brand guidelines that we all 193 00:11:00,510 --> 00:11:03,900 Kelly: have to learn and understand what it means to work 194 00:11:03,900 --> 00:11:07,710 Kelly: for Dyson. Everyone really takes to heart. If somebody tells 195 00:11:07,710 --> 00:11:11,910 Kelly: me they had a bad experience with their Dyson, they may 196 00:11:11,910 --> 00:11:14,609 Kelly: as well be standing on my foot or something, because 197 00:11:14,610 --> 00:11:17,970 Kelly: it really hurts. I take it in that you are 198 00:11:17,970 --> 00:11:20,429 Kelly: right, people do have an opinion and sometimes it can 199 00:11:20,429 --> 00:11:24,540 Kelly: be mixed. It's a Marmite or a Vegemite kind of 200 00:11:24,570 --> 00:11:27,330 Kelly: experience. They love or hate us as a brand, but 201 00:11:27,600 --> 00:11:30,150 Kelly: there's a lot that do love us and we appreciate 202 00:11:30,330 --> 00:11:31,829 Kelly: their love for the brand. 203 00:11:32,820 --> 00:11:34,980 Sean: Kelly, thank you very much for talking to Fear and Greed. 204 00:11:35,610 --> 00:11:36,810 Kelly: Thanks for having me Sean. 205 00:11:37,260 --> 00:11:40,980 Sean: That was Kelly Morgan, national sales capability manager at Dyson. 206 00:11:41,190 --> 00:11:43,380 Sean: This is a Fear and Greed Daily Interview. Join us 207 00:11:43,410 --> 00:11:45,510 Sean: every morning for the full episode of Fear and Greed, 208 00:11:45,510 --> 00:11:49,469 Sean: Australia's most popular business podcast. I'm Sean Aylmer. Enjoy your day.