Lady-Land

We spoke with Nicole Eckels, founder of Glasshouse, about how selling door-to-door taught her critical sales skills which she used to start and grow a multimillion-dollar brand. In 2006, with Glasshouse Fragrances, Nicole established the scented candle category in Australia and she’s continued to dominate it for the last 15 years. In this episode you’ll learn: How doing your research is critical to whether your sales pitch will get across the line Why feature dumping is the sure-fire way for your sales pitch to flop How being ready to walk away from a deal will boost your credibility in the long-term Tips to reframe the sales process so that you feel confident and excited to deliver your pitch Connect with usSign up to our non-spammy monthly newsletter: www.ladybrains.com.auFollow us on Instagram: @lady.brainsChat to us in the Facebook group: the lady-brains clubhouseHave a sweet business idea but unsure if it has potential?Sign up for the free 'Idea Validation Mini Course' at www.ladybrains.com.au/idea-m

How do you build a successful business before the market is truly ready? Kate Morris is the founder of Adore Beauty, the online beauty retailer she launched in 1999 at the ripe old age of 21. It took almost a decade for Adore Beauty to gain momentum and for customers to become comfortable with purchasing their beauty products online. Lucky for Kate she persisted, because 20 years on, Adore Beauty stocks over 200 brands and is forecast in 2020 to turn over $100 million in revenue. We covered a lot of ground in this chat, including: How she built out a team in the beginning, and what tasks she outsourced first How Adore Beauty acquires new customers through focusing on content marketing  Why she’s decided to invest heavily in AI technology The key ingredients to a killer pitch Why she decided to sell 60% of her stake in the business to private equity in 2019 Dealing with serious cash flow issues as recent as 2014, and the tactics she used to generate enough funds to make the following week’s payroll   Conn

How do you build a multi-million dollar retail empire by becoming best friends with rejection? Jo Horgan is one of Australia’s most successful entrepreneurs – she is the founder and driving force behind multimillion-dollar beauty giant MECCA. At 27, Jo had an idea to create a new beauty concept in Australia, BUT she had no retail experience, no distribution experience and only 4 years’ in beauty, yet she succeeded in getting some of the world’s biggest brands to buy into her vision. 22 years on, MECCA has emerged as the global leader in beauty innovation, and Jo, as one of Australia's most successful entrepreneurs.In this chat we covered: How being persistent and unrelenting got brands like NARS on board in the beginning The unique way Jo deals with rejection, and uses it to her advantage How ‘fake it til you make it’ still applies, despite the fact she’s achieved incredible levels of success Her top tip for bringing a deal to a close The key drivers of MECCA’s growth over the last 10 years How Direct-t

Have you ever had an idea but parked it because you feel like you don't have the right skills or knowledge? This conversation with Holly Cardew is a fantastic example of a non-technical founder building a multi-million dollar tech business. That business is Pixc - a platform for online retailers to edit their product shots. And...she's managed to build this with an entirely virtual team. Holly is the product of accelerator programs both in Australia and in the US, and she now splits her time between Silicon Valley and Melbourne. We covered a lot in this chat, including: How to build a completely remote workforce What to think about if you're considering to be part of an accelerator program  The dos and don'ts of operating in Silicon Valley How she managed to find out how Mailchimp's founder built his list from 10k to 1 million The future of software, and how Pixc is building an AI capability  How to get traction on your landing page 101 Connect with usSign up to our non-spammy monthly newsletter: www.lad

How do you build a rolodex with high-value contacts and keep these relationships warm so they pay-off in the long run? Sasha Benz is the Aussie Born, New York-based, founder of four businesses, as well as the Creative Director of The Surf Lodge – Montauks “it destination” (no joke…when we were there, Beyoncé was in town). At 24, she moved to New York to pursue a career in fashion and styling before starting two businesses, both of which failed to get off the ground. After experiencing these setbacks, she dug deep and went on to launch fashion blog ‘All My Friends Are Models’, social networking app Cinq, and two retail stores in Montauk. In this chat we cover:  Why two of her first businesses failed, and the lessons she learned The importance of building your rolodex, and how every opportunity has come through one of her contacts The challenge with transitioning out of a creative industry into tech, and how she’s managed to quickly up-skill The importance of brand partnerships and how to make sure you’re pu

How do you recover after losing your life savings? And what affect does this have on your business? Bec Donlan is a personal trainer and health coach, and is better known as Sweat with Bec. She’s also the founder of Go Basic, a natural healthy snack company. After years of hustling in NYC as a trainer to some of the biggest celebrities and models, Bec realised an opportunity in a rapidly expanding CBD industry and decided to infuse many of her Go Basic products with small doses of CBD (the non-intoxicating compound of the cannabis plant). This is a very frank and honest conversation with Bec, where we cover: Her personal motivations for starting Go Basic Money pressures and how to navigate them How spending her life savings on back surgery led her to start Go Basic Navigating an unpredictable landscape around CBD-infused products in the USA Connect with usSign up to our non-spammy monthly newsletter: www.ladybrains.com.auFollow us on Instagram: @lady.brainsChat to us in the Facebook group: the lady-brains

What does it take to market a product to the millennial audience? And how do you make it meaningful? In this episode of LADY-LAND we chatted with Swedish-born Babba Rivera – the brand marketing guru!  At 21 she launched Uber into Sweden, making Stockholm the fastest growing launch city ever. At 25, she landed herself on the Forbes 30 under 30 list. She’s been the Head of Marketing at Away, the direct-to-consumer luggage start-up that was recently valued at over $1 billion. And as if that wasn’t enough, she founded her own brand and marketing agency ByBabba, and is the co-founder of HER Network, a global community that supports women in the workplace. Her insights are inspiring and are great food for thought. We covered a lot in this chat, including:  How she created the opportunity for herself at Uber at such a young age How she built Uber in Sweden by targeting early adopters in the tech community  How she landed a role at Uber in NYC by pitching herself a new role to her boss  Working as head of fashion par

How do you raise capital and secure investment? It’s just one of the questions we were able to ask Sarah Friar, one of the most respected executives in Silicon Valley. She’s worked as CFO of Square, SVP of Finance and Strategy at Salesforce, Goldman Sachs, McKinsey and her most recent role is as CEO of Nextdoor, a trusted communications platform to grow local communities, which operates in over 11 countries and connects more than 200,000 neighbourhoods. Sarah recently raised over US$170 million for Nextdoor, with the company now valued at over US$2 billion. In addition to her vast experience she has a side hustle - Ladies Who Launch. Join us in one of the rare chats where we get to hear the inspiration and straight up lessons from someone truly at the top of their game. Connect with usSign up to our non-spammy monthly newsletter: www.ladybrains.com.auFollow us on Instagram: @lady.brainsChat to us in the Facebook group: the lady-brains clubhouseHave a sweet business idea but unsure if it has potential?Sign up

Artist CJ Hendry is one of Australia's most fascinating exports. You may know her as the face of hyperrealism: that's the style of art that is so damn lifelike it could be a photograph. She's caught the art world's attention by independently selling her pieces online for tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars - and she calls Kanye West one of her customers. Over this two-part interview you'll hear her journey to becoming one of the world's most disruptive young artists. She is energetic, hilarious and generous, she does not ask for permission and stops at nothing to make her next big idea a reality. Connect with usSign up to our non-spammy monthly newsletter: www.ladybrains.com.auFollow us on Instagram: @lady.brainsChat to us in the Facebook group: the lady-brains clubhouseHave a sweet business idea but unsure if it has potential?Sign up for the free 'Idea Validation Mini Course' at www.ladybrains.com.au/idea-mini-couse  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omny

This is part two with Australian Artist, CJ Hendry. Here we get into the business of art and how CJ has broken the traditional artist/gallery model by selling her pieces online. Her extravagant self-funded exhibitions are entirely unnecessary to sell her art - so why is she considering buying a church, in the heroin capital of the world to stage her next exhibition? Connect with usSign up to our non-spammy monthly newsletter: www.ladybrains.com.auFollow us on Instagram: @lady.brainsChat to us in the Facebook group: the lady-brains clubhouseHave a sweet business idea but unsure if it has potential?Sign up for the free 'Idea Validation Mini Course' at www.ladybrains.com.au/idea-mini-couse  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our next guest, Courtney Ray, began her career occupied in the fields of accounting and finance, tapping away on excel and powerpoint, until her honeymoon getaway in the US inspired a lightbulb moment in a completely unrelated industry - flowers! In fact, Courtney identified that the traditional business model of the flower industry was fundamentally flawed due to high store front costs and hard to forecast perishable inventory. So she immediately jumped into action and built a completely new model for a flower delivery business - one curated bunch of flowers, ordered online and delivered same day direct to your door. In hindsight it makes sense, Courtney grew up on a farm surrounded by gorgeous gardens and freshly cut blooms - so it seems plausible that she managed to take one of her passions and turn it into a profitable business....enjoy! Connect with usSign up to our non-spammy monthly newsletter: www.ladybrains.com.auFollow us on Instagram: @lady.brainsChat to us in the Facebook group: the lady-brains cl

Katia and Vera are two best friends and former housemates who built a multi-million dollar business from their kitchen table. That business is Nimble Activewear: the trendy, Bondi-based fitness label with the bold colours and prints that you would recognise from a mile away. The girls had the idea for Nimble back in 2014 when they realised there were no real activewear brands available that were high performing, fashionable and affordable. What started out as a passion project quickly became a thriving business, so much so that Katia very soon after gave up her career in fashion to work in the biz full-time.The two have a pretty remarkable friendship - when Katia went full-time, Vera continued to work as a lawyer so she could financially support the two of them until it was time for Vera to dive in fully as well. This episode is a little longer than usual, but the girls were soo generous with sharing their story that we couldn't stop asking questions! There's so much to take away from this episode, including

So far on the lady-brains you've heard stories about women that have launched product-based businesses. We've covered everything from concept development to the manufacturing process and getting product onto the shelves of some of the biggest retailers in the world. Today's chat is slightly different to our previous one's because for the first time we sit down with a founder of a service-based business, Karla Dawes from KDPO. Karla started her own PR agency in 2016 and quickly became the go-to food and beverage agency here in Melbourne and around Australia. Boasting big-name clients like Peroni, Capi, Broadsheet and The Lucas Group, Karla is a fantastic example of a smart and savvy businesswoman that chose a profitable niche, and excelled in servicing it. Karla gives us all the tips...including how to pitch a story to journalists to get cut-through, and how you can ensure your business stays in the headlines. We kicked off by asking Karla whether her parents helped influence her journey. Connect with usSign u

Gemma Watts is the founder of Glow Journal, a brand focused on producing beautiful, educational and honest content for the beauty consumer. As a solopreneur, she wears many hats in her business. She writes content for her blog, she heads up Glow Journal Creative - an agency specialising in tone of voice development and content creation for beauty brands, and she hosts the Glow Journal Podcast, interviewing some of the best in the beauty biz about what it takes to succeed in one of the most dynamic industries today. Gemma opens up about how she got to where she is today, the risks she's taken along the way, and why, in business and in life, it's so important to know your worth. Connect with usSign up to our non-spammy monthly newsletter: www.ladybrains.com.auFollow us on Instagram: @lady.brainsChat to us in the Facebook group: the lady-brains clubhouseHave a sweet business idea but unsure if it has potential?Sign up for the free 'Idea Validation Mini Course' at www.ladybrains.com.au/idea-mini-couse  Learn more

Megan Gale is a well-known Aussie supermodel, TV presenter, brand ambassador and business owner. After being discovered by talent scouts at 18, she moved to Sydney to pursue a professional career but struggled to make the big time. After five years of grit, determination and following her gut (she knew something big was around the corner), Megan rose to international fame when she was cast in an Italian ad campaign. Since then, Megan has spent two decades working in Australia and overseas for some of the world's biggest brands. But what she's most proud of (aside from her beautiful family, of course!) is her brand new venture as the business owner of Mindful Life - a range of natural skincare products for babies and children. The name says it all - she's built a brand that teaches us to live with presence and purpose, to reconnect with ourselves and those that matter most. In this episode, Megan shares with us what it's taken to build Mindful Life as a one-woman-show, and why it's so important to clarify your

In this episode we chat with the co-founder of personal care and hygiene brand Moxie. You may recognise it as the brand of tampons in the cute, pink tin packaging that's on the shelves of major retailers in Australia and also around the globe. The brains behind the brand is Mia Klitsas, who was just 21 years old when she thought of repackaging tampons into a tin container so that they would finally stop getting lost in the bottom of her bag. Guys – stick with us, coz we think you’ll also get a lot from this chat too! Mia shares with us her story on transitioning from working at one of the largest tobacco companies in the world to doing her own thing, how she lost half a million dollars worth of stock in the UK, and about her passion for social entrepreneurship – driving an initiative that provides women around the world with access to clean sanitary products. There’s so much to love about her, and the thing we admired about her the most is that she’s tenacious, she’s comfortable sitting in the uncomfortable b

Today's chat is with one of the pioneers of the fashion blogging industry in Australia. Sara Crampton is the face of Harper and Harley; a fashion, lifestyle and beauty blog that has captured the attention of women all over the world. From humble beginnings, quitting her job at 21 and uprooting her life to move to Sydney, Sara has managed to grow her Instagram audience to over 560k and her CV reads like the contents of a Vogue magazine, partnering with brands like Gucci, YSL, Estee Lauder, Nike, and many more. But Sara isn't just an influencer, in 2016 she made the leap into retail, launching The Undone - an online boutique selling a carefully curated line-up of beautiful, minimalist clothing. We sat down with Sara in her stunning Surry Hills office, to chat about how she came to be at the forefront of Australia's fashion scene. Connect with usSign up to our non-spammy monthly newsletter: www.ladybrains.com.auFollow us on Instagram: @lady.brainsChat to us in the Facebook group: the lady-brains clubhouseHave a

Our next guest may not be a household name just yet, but let us tell you, after you hear this episode we don't think you'll forget her anytime soon. She's gritty, hilarious and has one of the most inquisitive minds. Christy Laurence is the brains behind PLANN - a social media management tool that is widely used by creatives, influencers and big organisations. Her business building journey is a unique one - struck by a debilitating illness that left her unable to move independently for two years, she somehow managed to not only make a full recovery, but in the process conceived of PLANN and persuaded someone to build the app for free. Three years on, Christy has achieved over 1 million downloads across 150 countries, employs 35 people in 9 countries, and now splits her time between Sydney and Silicon Valley. She's a real pocket rocket - we hope you enjoy it! Connect with usSign up to our non-spammy monthly newsletter: www.ladybrains.com.auFollow us on Instagram: @lady.brainsChat to us in the Facebook group: th

Imagine finding yourself sitting across the board room table negotiating the deal of your life with the world's biggest sporting brand - Nike. Well, in 2012 this was the reality for Julie Stevanja, who invested her life savings into Stylerunner - a brand that just a few years later would become the world's biggest online activewear retailer, valued at over $50M. Impressive right? We can confirm that in person, she is just as amazing as she sounds! But aside from the awards, accolades, and financial success, what really blew us away was Julie's kind nature, her authenticity, and her willingness to share advice with not only us, but also with all of you. We began our chat in the Stylerunner board room, surrounded by mood boards featuring the upcoming winter collection. Connect with usSign up to our non-spammy monthly newsletter: www.ladybrains.com.auFollow us on Instagram: @lady.brainsChat to us in the Facebook group: the lady-brains clubhouseHave a sweet business idea but unsure if it has potential?Sign up for

Michelle Battersby is the classic definition of an intrapreneur. While she doesn't technically own her own business, she was tasked with the huge responsibility of starting and expanding US born dating and networking app, Bumble right across Australia. Headhunted by founder Whitney Wolf, Michelle backed herself and quit her job after a conversation with Whitney that she says completely sold her on the brand's mission to support and empower women. She's been on a whirlwind adventure ever since, and in just two short years has achieved 2 million app registrations with no signs of slowing down. We sat down to chat all things Bumble and to hear about Michelle's new role as Associate Marketing Director of the APAC region. Connect with usSign up to our non-spammy monthly newsletter: www.ladybrains.com.auFollow us on Instagram: @lady.brainsChat to us in the Facebook group: the lady-brains clubhouseHave a sweet business idea but unsure if it has potential?Sign up for the free 'Idea Validation Mini Course' at www.lady