Ignore the "sensible" path
How to turn a fake idea into a real business outcome.
When I saw Ken Sakata (Ken Sakata) was doing a 50-person talk in London, I immediately messaged my friend Amy.
She grabbed a ticket straight away (because she’s cool + spontaneous, everyone needs a friend like Amy in their lives).
Then she asked, “Wait. Who is this guy?”
So I sent her a voice note, explaining.
I discovered Ken back in 2021.
He was a surgeon who started tweeting about a fictional AFL team called Queensland Football Club (it doesn’t exist… Ken made it up).
During COVID, posting random updates about fake player trades and match results became Ken’s way to unwind after hospital shifts.
Then, his Twitter followers decided they wanted merchandise to support his fake team.
He designed a t-shirt with his face on it and sold $2000 worth of shirts in a week. The AFL sent a cease-and-desist because the design used Gold Coast Suns branding, so the shirt was redesigned to say “Queensland Football Club.”
His merchandise drops kept selling out, even when he only had about 800 Instagram followers.
I found him in time for the second merchandise drop, and bought a QFC hoodie (which sold out in a couple hours).
That hoodie worked in a couple of magical ways I didn’t expect…
I wore it to a cafe and the barista exclaimed, “Oh you’re a fan of Queensland Football Club!” It’s like we had some secret handshake going/immediate rapport, “We like each other because we both enjoy the absurd idea of supporting a fake football team.”
Then, there was journalist Sophie Venz. We followed each other because of our shared QFC fandom (she also bought a hoodie). One conversation later, she published my article in SmartCompany: Write a Musk-like manifesto to dramatically bring your business’ mission to life. A very strange route to press coverage.
Fast forward to today.
Ken is now based in Tokyo with 810K Instagram followers and Queensland Football Club has evolved into Front Office, a design-led luxury clothing brand, where he makes deeply researched garments inspired by workwear, tailoring, military clothing and sportswear, while collaborating with brands including Percival and Umbro.
Oh, and Ken was also lucky enough to meet my friend Amy in London :)
What I love about Ken’s story is that he didn’t start his Twitter account with any intention of selling merchandise, or designing menswear (I mean, the guy was a surgeon!).
He started something ridiculous, saw the response, made the next thing, and learned the next skill.
He lived my favourite quote, “That which you can plan, is too small for you to live” - David Whyte.
Turning nothing into something (my favourite hobby)
Ken’s story matters to me because I’m deeply attached to the idea of turning nothing into something. I even wrote an article about it: How to turn nothing into something, 2025 style.
Which is exactly what I've been doing this week.
I'm finalising the program for Con Con, my first event for consultants at Kirra Beach House on the Gold Coast.
50 tickets sold out in 8 days last year. The whole thing started as its own "Queensland Football Club" moment: if 15 people bought tickets in the first 24 hours, I'd run it. If not, I'd ditch the idea. 15 sold in 21 minutes.
Right now I'm playing program Tetris, fitting all the good stuff into the schedule. I've designed the event I would want to go to. And it's looking amazing - but most importantly? The people (affectionately labelled the “Con Conners”) joining me are all amazing, too.
We're sold out, but between now and 17 June, circumstances change. If a spot opens up, I'll go straight to the waitlist. Jump on here if you want first dibs (event details here).
You can just make things up
You can just… dramatically change your life the second you make something up.
A fake football club, a dinner series, a newsletter, an event, reaching out to someone… And if you keep following the response, that tiny idea can change who you meet, what you build, and the trajectory of your life.
Steve Jobs shared this, “Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you. And you can change it. You can influence it. You can build your own things that other people can use.”
Remember that you have that power.
What’s an interesting thing you could create for absolutely no sensible reason?
Hit the heart 💙 below if you enjoyed reading Ken’s story. It takes two seconds and helps more people find my ideas online.
🌴
Leanne “QFC for life!” Hughes
P.S. Alan Weiss are back for our next instalment of ‘Talk the Walk’ in a few weeks, the topic? How to use words to increase your value, demand and influence. RSVP here so you don’t miss it.