Balance - The Journey of Entrepreneurial Couples

Megan Luscombe & Gwen O'Toole Owners of The Ideas Library

Megan Luscombe and I started the business in 2013. Megan was at the time working as a corporate event producer and I was working in Sydney as a magazine editor for a publication that was sent to event organisers. We met in Byron Bay, NSW when I was flown up to write a story about the destination as part of a feature that was to go into the magazine. Megan was flown up at the same time with a group of corporate event planners who were being shown the destination to effectively sell that destination to them for future events, conferences, etc. We met there, developed a friendship and when I would fly back and forth to Melbourne we would sometimes meet up for coffee.

It was at an industry trade show in 2012, where we went out after the event finished and had a few drinks (all great ideas start over cocktails!) and started talking about the type of company we would love to work for. Then we had our "Why don't we just make that company?" moment.....

The Ideas Library is essentially have event management (we have several events we organise throughout the year) and half content creation for a variety of travel, food and lifestyle publications. We also assist companies with writing website content, press releases, etc for their own businesses.

Hanna Lim (part of the Mark and Hanna duo of Lollaland)

Hanna Lim is the mother of three daughters and is the co-founder and President of Lollaland. Prior to creating the Lollacup, Hanna received her Masters in Education at UCLA and worked as a high school chemistry teacher. In her spare time, she is active in several parenting groups, serves on the board of the Wellesley College Club of Pasadena, and is a volunteer member of Kidspace Children's Museum's Circle of Friends.

Mark Lim is the co-founder and Director of Operations for Lollaland. Mark graduated with a degree in finance and worked for The Bank of New York in structured finance. His first taste for entrepreneurship was when he worked at AG Jeans, an up and coming denim brand based out of Los Angeles. A few years later, Mark started his own apparel business, Division One Inc. while pursuing his MBA at UCLA Anderson School of Management. Mark joined his wife, Hanna, full-time after the Lollacup was ready to introduce to the market.

Hanna is responsible for product development, social media, public relations, customer service, and marketing, while Mark oversees sales (domestic and international), the company's finances, production/inventory, and business operations.

Zeeshan and Karina Hayat Founders of Prizm media

"In order to support each other we make each other aware of the other's strengths and weaknesses" "The biggest thing is that we are deafly honest with each other. If he does something wrong, I am not scared to tell him. I also want him to tell me if I am doing something wrong. For example, If I get fat, tell me before I get super fat and to the point where it will be harder to lose weight. Our relationship is great because we are comfortable of being able to tell each other anything. Our goal is to help support and push each other towards success. By being honest with each other we are able to stop the build-up of resentment. This honesty is vital to our relationship, especially because we own a business, Prizm Media together. But you can't just be honest with someone by telling them what to do. Honesty is pointing out the problem and giving a solution. If you just point out the problem without a solution you're creating resentment. Your husband or wife is your best friend, your teammate and your life partner. You want them to succeed and they want you to succeed. In order to help each other you need to be aware of what they are bad at and good at and help them improve. "