After a tough first year at boarding school, Sean Temple wrote a ten-page letter to Arnold Schwarzenegger — and the signed bodybuilding encyclopaedia that came back set the direction of his life.
Decades later, after a career in banking and a humbling encounter with a kettlebell, he opened his own gym in Durban, trained some of the country's leading rugby players and found himself on morning TV, until the business fell apart.
In this conversation with Justinus Adriaanse and Flip van der Merwe, Sean takes full accountability for what went wrong: chasing the fame instead of running the business, taking the wrong advice, and discovering too late that he was the brand.
This one is for founders who have become the face of their company, and for South Africans abroad who have ever treated a new country as a fresh start.
Sean is candid about ego, therapy and honest friends, about why no move will outrun your problems, and about rebuilding into a role leading AI in banking in Copenhagen.
CHAPTERS
00:00 Introduction
01:40 Springbok Memories From 1981 to Today
04:20 Growing Up Across Southern Africa
08:12 The Letter to Arnold Schwarzenegger
12:19 Road Cycling and Learning to Enjoy the Suffering
16:39 London and the South African Work Ethic
19:14 Humbled by a Kettlebell
24:13 Building a Gym and Training Rugby Stars
26:56 Where It Went Wrong
31:17 The 5am Drive That Changed Everything
33:25 Ego, Resilience and Starting From Zero
38:59 You Can't Outrun Your Problems
42:11 Copenhagen, AI and Life Among the Danes
48:31 Building a South Africa That Works for Everyone
53:30 Looking Ahead to Australia 2027
Winning The Away Game is brought to you by The Lekker Network. The Lekker Network brings together South Africa’s top entrepreneurs, executives, innovators, and everyday people from all over the world to connect, engage, support, do business with each other, and create lasting impact. Find out more at https://thelekkernetwork.com/
Listen on Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/26fB2unP9Ih6IA3QkjnGQF?si=4b4380f24a144716
Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/za/podcast/winning-the-away-game/id1853818584
Connect with Justinus:https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinusadriaanse/
Connect with Flip:https://www.linkedin.com/in/flipvandermerwe/
Check out our other channels: Website: https://wtagpodcast.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/winning-the-away-game-podcast/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wtag_podcast/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@wtag_podcast
Winning The Away Game is produced by Jonathan Warncke Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/%F0%9F%8E%99-jonathan-warncke-45b2095/
Ping Productions: https://www.pingproductions.net/
