Daniela Kraus

You may be familiar with XVenture if you’ve been watching TV3’s recent show: XVenture Family Challenge. One of the powerhouses behind the show is our very own Daniela Kraus from the Kristin class of 1998. 

 We caught up with Daniela in Sydney recently, to find out what she’s doing now and to hear more about XVenture’s plans beyond the recent TV series. Daniela was also kind enough to speak at our recent Sydney Alumni Reunion, sharing a little of her journey since Kristin with the wider Alumni group.

So, what are you doing these days? 

I’m one of the Directors and Chief Operating Officers of XVenture.

Can you tell us a little bit about XVenture and what you do?

We’re a learning, leadership and media group focused on creating ‘winning minds’ working globally with elite sports teams, high schools, universities, corporates and most recently families (in the TV series XVenture Family Challenge, sponsored by ecostore). Our key areas of focus are developing emotional agility, resilience and leadership in individuals, in a team context. 

And how did you come to be working there?

I met my now business partner Mike Conway at a charity event I volunteered at. Mike was the Managing Director of The Wiggles Pty Ltd at the time.

I ended up being hired as the Global Licensing Manager for The Wiggles, working with all our partners globally with a portfolio of over 120 licensees, across 800 to 1,000 products at any given time. It was a massive learning curve – rewarding, yet challenging at the same time!

I was there for three years before I left to take care of my terminally ill mum (Hannelore Kraus, former Kristin teacher) and joined forces with Mike again when I moved back to Sydney and he had founded XVenture. I am inspired by what we do every day - our work is very rewarding, particularly working with young people.

How do you feel your time at Kristin has shaped your path beyond school?

I’ve always been grateful for the well-rounded education that Kristin provided. I appreciated the opportunity to complete IB with a broad spectrum of subjects, as well as CAS (Creativity, Action, Service) and Theory of Knowledge. Not knowing exactly what I wanted to do, it created the perfect foundation for me.

Teachers who had a profound impact on me were Miss Morrison, Mrs Bradstreet, Mr Speedy, Mrs Lewis (the Pigou) and Mrs Gottard.

If you could give a message to students, what would it be?

Always do your best. You are creating the opportunity of having choices in the future.

Say yes to opportunities which present themselves. You never know where they will lead. 

When you meet someone who inspires you – introduce yourself and be sure to make a positive impression. You never know where this may lead.

Never give up. Develop your resilience by taking yourself out of your comfort zone. If you fail, get back up and keep going. When you win, celebrate, then keep going.

What’s ahead for you in 2019 and beyond?

Our work with national sports teams (and individuals) will continue to grow, which is really exciting.

In June we launched XVenture in a Box, which enables businesses to curate, create and design their own tailored programme for their employees using all our tried-and-tested content, challenges and EARL Diagnostic.

The other project which is under wraps is a new TV-style programme for high schools. Watch this space!

Is there anything else you’d like to share with the Kristin Community?

I’d like to take the opportunity to acknowledge and do a shout out to my beautiful mum, Hannelore Kraus, who was a teacher at Kristin for several years. We lost mum to cancer in 2012 and I wanted to take this opportunity to thank all those students, teachers and colleagues who made mum’s time at Kristin such a wonderful experience. 
 

www.xventure.com.au