Ep.20 Becoming a B Corp - Behind the Certification Process with Jay, Liam & Steve-fun

Originally from a village in Scotland, now leading our biggest venue in California. Jack has spent ten years saying "why not?" to every opportunity at Funlab. In this episode he shares why being "proudly cringe" is a good thing, embracing challenges, and relearning leadership to meet the needs of different teams. Plus: crutches, a bouncy ball, and the best ten-year surprise we've heard yet.

For this episode of the You Motherfunner Podcast we’re talking with Lana. We take some time to go back and reminisce about Sky Zone, the brand she started working in as a causal team member. Now she’s been with Funlab for over 13 years. She says it herself, the finishing up of Sky Zone Australia was bittersweet but she still bleeds orange and blue. You’ll hear about her passion for Sky Zone, the care for team, guest and the experiences created in those venues - then how all of those experiences, from a fumbled loud speaker announcement to a packed venue, managing 50 kids on a trampoline to honing the third eye for safety, have lasting impacts that show up in her role as Head of Operational Excellence today.  

Jensen is Funlab's Country Manager for our US Operations — but his story doesn't start in the United States. It starts with glitter at job trial in the middle of the Christmas peak,  and a moment that made him think: yeah, this is the place for me.From that first Holey Moley experience, Jensen has spent years taking Funlab somewhere new — New Zealand, Singapore, and now the USA. Each time starting from scratch, building teams, and figuring out how to make the Australian fun land in a completely different culture.In this episode, Jensen talks about what it actually takes to open a venue in a country where mini golf isn't a given, where tipping culture runs deep, and where you can't just ring the support office when things get hard. He is incredibly humble, sharing his passions and kudos to the people who backed him as well as the people he’s seen grow along the way. And somewhere in the middle of all of it, his daughter River was born on a Saturday. He'd launched a venue the Friday before.Finding strength in the people around you — from glitter to global with Jensen.

What do a mousetrap, an E.T. bicycle and six hundred VHS tapes have in common? They're all part of how Funlab's Creative Director Keith thinks about building experiences people remember.In this episode he pulls back the curtain on what it actually takes to build brands people fall in love with, from five hundred name options to a beach shoot at sunrise with Australian circus performers. Warm, funny and genuinely incapable of treating his work like work.

This episode we sat down with Funlab's Partnership Manager, BK — Brett Kubik and the conversation spanned the importance of building relationships to have greater impact, partnering with values aligned organisations and the timeless truths that feedback is a gift (even though it may not feel that way in the moment). It's a great listen while reflecting on how you bring your own talents to your role!

The You Motherfunner Podcast sat down with Stephanie one of our venue Motherfunners based in Western Australia.Tune in to hear about what it was like coming from the restaurant hospitality world and joining the funlab family. Stepping in as a Venue Manager in Karrinyup, she has some great tales to share about the growth and learnings that made her the leader she is today.  Steph is bubbly and passionate about what she does.  You’ll hear how she is 100% human and how that humanity is something that’s been a why motivator, a challenge and an amazing opportunity to grow. 

It's not just a yap on the phone, there are hundreds even thousands of points of contact with our guests each week. The Guest Services team act as an extension of our venues even though they're not physically in our venues. In our newest episode we talk with Claire and Chavez about the inception of the concierge team, that journey and more recently the transition to guest services.    We deep dive into being an extension of our venues, how guest obsession shows up when you're not in the same physical space. What it's like to train a whole new team in bringing that Funlab passion and understanding while also having a tactful yap. Alongside managing timezones across the globe and some of the more curious comments and questions that have come to them.

Core to our business is people. This episode has us sitting down with our Talent Manager, Emilly. We talk through what hiring for attitude looks like, checking your bias, and from 10+ years with Funlab, how that's influenced her and led to the experiences that add unexpected value to her role today.

If you’ve worked in a funlab kitchen in the past 5 years you’ve likely come into contact with Chia.  We talk about how a new menu comes together, the lessons of opening a new venue from the kitchen perspective.  What goes into training a team, why you need to dry the sauce cups and his approach to hustling. 

In our first 3 guest episode, we’re celebrating the journey to our success in achieving B Corp certification. What is a B Corp? How does it work? What’s involved in it all? Tune in as we’re talking to three of our B-keepers, from the people, procurement and food and beverage teams about the impact of the B Corp journey and the way this shows up in each of their areas in our business. For more, visit this page on our website - fun-lab.com/about/bcorp