Biz

What started as a lockdown passion project to cure personal isolation has quickly turned into a $100M robotics company. In this episode, host Lisa Lie chats with Grace Brown, the visionary founder and CEO behind Andromeda Robotics and their flagship companion robot, Abi. Grace breaks down the journey of challenging an aggressive, male-dominated robotics culture, pitching to over 100 investors, the power of a "30-year-old alter ego," and why the future of AI and robotics relies on social intelligence over raw utility.

On today’s episode, you’ll learn:

• Why you don't need a polished sales strategy to test an idea—and how literally walking through the front door with an early prototype can prove real-world demand.

• How changing your messaging to match your audience's language can unlock funding from skeptical investors.

• Actionable strategies for building rejection resilience, leaning into shameless persistence, and navigating dozens of "no's" to get to a "yes".

• Practical ways to shift your mindset from tinkering with the product to designing the business as an scalable system – and how to outgrow your company.

• How envisioning a wiser, more confident future version of yourself can give you instant clarity during high-stakes decisions.

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Got a work life dilemma? Send us all the questions you definitely can't ask your boss - send us a voice note or email us at [email protected]. You can remain anon! 

HOST: Lisa Lie 

GUEST: Grace Brown, CEO of Andromedia Robotics and founder of @abi_humanoid

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Courtney Ammenhauser

SENIOR CREATIVE PRODUCER: Thom Lion

ASSISTANT PRODUCER: Sasha Tannock

Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribe

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Sandy Li-Truong and Justin Truong started PUSHAS in 2017, they were sneakerheads solving a problem inside a subculture they knew intimately: buying rare sneakers required immense trust, but the market was plagued by counterfeits and friction. Having walked away from a predictable path in corporate law, Justin teamed up with Sandy to build an infrastructure where trust - not just footwear - was the actual product.

Years later, a spontaneous tweet during COVID sparked an unexpected half-million-dollar inventory fund, pushing them to test whether their playbook could stretch beyond kicks into streetwear, collectibles, and now, their highest-stakes turnaround yet: acquiring collapsed cult activewear label STAX.

In this episode, Sandy and Justin share what it takes to break the rules that made you successful, how to distinguish a reckless gamble from a cheap experiment, and how to decide whether you've outgrown your niche.

On today’s episode, you’ll learn:

• How Sandy and Justin turned an obsessive hobby into an business built on trust.

• The story behind how they raised over $500K for inventory, and what it taught them about selling before you've built the machinery.

• How to know when "niching down" stops being your competitive moat and starts becoming a ceiling on your growth.

• Why they stepped in to buy collapsed activewear brand STAX, and how to value IP, community, and trust when rebuilding a company you didn't create.

THE END BITS

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Got a work life dilemma? Send us all the questions you definitely can't ask your boss - send us a voice note or email us at [email protected]. You can remain anon! 

HOST: Lisa Lie 

GUEST: Sandy Li & Justin Truong - founders of Pushas & new owners of STAX

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Courtney Ammenhauser

SENIOR CREATIVE PRODUCER: Thom Lion

ASSISTANT PRODUCER: Sasha Tannock

Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribe

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As a student midwife, Remy Tucker worked with vulnerable new mothers and saw women forced to make impossible choices around basic essentials, including period products. She was eventually told that if she wanted to survive in the profession, she might need to switch off the part of herself that cared so deeply. She couldn't. Years later, that same instinct helped spark ON THE HOUSE, a business built around a radical question: what if period products could be free? In this episode, Remy shares how she turned a social problem into a for-profit business model, why doing good and making money don't have to be opposing ideas, and how that aligns a company designed to create impact at scale.

On today’s episode, you’ll learn:

• How Remy turned an experience from her midwifery career into the problem she eventually built ON THE HOUSE to tackle.
• How an advertising-funded model can make period products free to the people who need them while still creating a commercially viable business.
• What she calls “outcome debt”, and why taking a shortcut in a startup can mean paying for it later with interest.
• How to work out whether the thing you've been told is a weakness might actually be one of your greatest advantages as a founder.

 

THE END BITS

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Got a work life dilemma? Send us all the questions you definitely can't ask your boss - send us a voice note or email us at [email protected]. You can remain anon! 

HOST: Lisa Lie 

GUEST: Remy Tucker, On The House

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Courtney Ammenhauser

SENIOR CREATIVE PRODUCER: Thom Lion

ASSISTANT PRODUCER: Sasha Tannock

Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribe

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Annie Nguyen arrived in Australia with a background in finance and business, but couldn’t land a job as a barista. So she spent less than $200 setting up a tiny market stall selling Vietnamese iced coffee instead. That stall became ANNEES, now a beloved and growing chain of coffee shops popping up across Queensland. In this episode, Annie shares how she turned genuine human connection into an actual customer-service system, what Shark Tank taught her about backing your own vision, and why starting a business might require far less money, polish and certainty than you think.

On today’s episode, you’ll learn:

• How Annie turned “great customer service” into a repeatable system her team could actually learn, without making it feel scripted. (They remember every customer by name!)
• What Annie learned from pitching ANNEES on Shark Tank while six months pregnant, being questioned about whether motherhood would slow her business down, and walking away without a deal but a plan instead.
• How to know when growth requires you to stop doing everything yourself, trust your team and “get out of the way.”
• How Annie learned aspiring founders can “start embarrassingly small” instead of waiting for the money, infrastructure or perfect grand plan.

THE END BITS

Support independent women's media.

Got a work life dilemma? Send us all the questions you definitely can't ask your boss - send us a voice note or email us at [email protected]. You can remain anon! 

HOST: Lisa Lie 

GUEST: Annie Nguyen 

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Courtney Ammenhauser

SENIOR CREATIVE PRODUCER: Thom Lion

ASSISTANT PRODUCER: Sasha Tannock

Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribe

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Anaita Sarkar is the co-founder and CEO of Hero Packaging, author of How To Sell Anything Online and her authenticity shines through to her MASSIVE TikTok following.

But in this episode, she’s not here to give you the polished founder story. Anaita shares the mistakes that left Hero Packaging staring down a $600,000 inventory bill she didn’t know was coming, the moment she questioned whether she was actually a good business owner, and what it took to fight her way back. She also shares some of the most practical advice we’ve heard on BIZ, including the simple experiment she used to test whether there was actually a market for Hero Packaging before betting on the idea.

On today’s episode, you’ll learn:

• How Anaita tested demand for Hero Packaging with a landing page and a $20-a-day Google Ad before properly launching.

• Why 50, 100 or 200 people actively showing interest in your idea could represent a much bigger potential market.

• How a growing business can look successful while dangerous financial problems are building underneath it.

• Why blindly handing your finances to an expert can be a costly mistake, and what Anaita learned from discovering a $600,000 inventory bill had been missed.

THE END BITS

READ OR LISTEN to Anaita's book "How To Sell Anything Online"

Support independent women's media.

Got a work life dilemma? Send us all the questions you definitely can't ask your boss - send us a voice note or email us at [email protected]. You can remain anon! 

HOST: Lisa Lie 

GUEST: Anaita Sarkar - Hero Packaging

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Courtney Ammenhauser

SENIOR CREATIVE PRODUCER: Thom Lion

ASSISTANT PRODUCER: Sasha Tannock

Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribe

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're constantly told to earn more, save more and somehow become better at money. But what if feeling financially secure isn't just about the numbers?

In this episode of Biz, Lisa Lie and Em Vernam sit down with financial educator Jess Brady to unpack the emotional side of money, and how the way we think about it can shape the choices we make.

Jess explains what your "money monster" is, and how to stop it quietly sabotaging your financial goals.

We also get practical: how to automate your money so you can stop wasting time online banking, what a "fruit tree" goal is and why having one can change the way you think about your financial future.

In this episode you'll learn

• How childhood experiences around money can create "money monsters" which subconsciously sabotage your relationship with money
• How to eliminate those emotional barriers to create financial freedom
• How to automate your finances and stop constantly checking your bank account
• What a "fruit tree" goal is and why you need one

THE END BITS

READ OR LISTEN to Jessica's Book "Get Growing: A No-Nonsense Guide to Cultivating Wealth and Financial Freedom"

Support independent women's media.
Got a work life dilemma? Send us all the questions you definitely can't ask your boss for our Biz Inbox episodes - send us a voice note or email us at [email protected]. You can remain anon! 

HOSTS: Lisa Lie and Em Vernem

GUEST: Jessica Brady - Money Educator 

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Courtney Ammenhauser

SENIOR PRODUCER: Thom Lion
VIDEO PRODUCER: Marlena Cacciotti

Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribe

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Everyone loves the idea of being their own boss. But what happens when your side gig becomes a real business?

In this episode of Biz, Lisa Lie chats with Cherie Clonan, CEO of The Digital Picnic, about what it actually takes to make the leap from employee or freelancer to business owner.

Cherie gets brutally honest about the reality of building a business with bub in tow: three years without a salary, the pressure of making payroll, the temptation to quit, and why business ownership isn't necessarily the freedom fantasy we're sold.

She explains how she knew The Digital Picnic had "legs", what changes when you go from selling your own time to building a team, and why the biggest leap might actually come after becoming a freelancer.

Plus, Cherie shares her simple "horizons of growth" framework to balance the day-to-day work of keeping a business alive with the bigger ideas that drove you to start it all.

In this episode you'll also learn:

• How to tell if your side hustle actually has legs
• Why you don't necessarily need to quit your job to start a business
• The reality of going years without paying yourself
• The moment Cherie realised she had become the bottleneck in her own business
• What changes when you hire your first employees

THE END BITS

Support independent women's media.
Got a work life dilemma? Send us all the questions you definitely can't ask your boss for our Biz Inbox episodes - send us a voice note or email us at [email protected]. You can remain anon! 

HOST: Lisa Lie

GUEST: Cherie Clonan - The Digital Picnic 

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Courtney Ammenhauser

SENIOR PRODUCER: Thom Lion
VIDEO PRODUCER: Marlena Cacciotti

Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribe

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does it actually take to spot the next big business before everyone else? 

In this episode of Biz, Lisa Lie sits down with Phoebe Pincus, CEO of Startmate, who spends her days surrounded by founders, investors and a LOT of startup ideas.

Start up investing may sound intimidating, but Phoebe walks us through how to actually begin, where to find the right startups and what you need to know before putting your money behind them.

We get into the reality of how many startups fail for every success story, how investors can account for that when spreading their bets, and why investing in founders whose vision creates a future you actually want to be part of can become a powerful motivator.

In this episode you'll learn:

• The power law principle and why startup investing is fundamentally different from traditional investing
• Why getting a read on the founder trumps any other data points
• How to spot the patterns that keep appearing in successful startups
• The people skills that actually matter, and why successful startups are a much longer journey than they look from the outside
• How to invest in a future you actually want to help create
• Where to start if you've never invested in a startup before
• How to find and gain access to the right startups

THE END BITS

Support independent women's media.
Got a work life dilemma? Send us all the questions you definitely can't ask your boss for our Biz Inbox episodes - send us a voice note or email us at [email protected]. You can remain anon! 

HOST: Lisa Lie

GUEST: Pheobe Pincus - Startmate

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Courtney Ammenhauser
SENIOR PRODUCER: Thom Lion
VIDEO PRODUCER: Marlena Cacciotti

Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribe

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There aren't many certainties in life... but tax is one of them. And look, on the surface it doesn't come across as the sexiest of topics, but burying your head in the sand is a surefire way to create unnecessary stress in your life. The sooner you get your head around tax, the less you'll have to think about it.

In this episode of BIZ, Lisa and Em chat to the Managing Director of HNRY to unpack the misconceptions many people have about tax and how understanding it is essential, especially if you're a business owner, sole trader or make extra income outside of your regular employment. 

In this episode you'll learn:

• What you can actually claim as a work expense
• The pros and cons of different business structures when it comes to tax
• The tax incentives for superannuation contributions 
• Why a tax refund might not be a good thing
• How to manage your taxes when you're self-employed

THE END BITS

Support independent women's media.
Got a work life dilemma? Send us all the questions you definitely can't ask your boss for our Biz Inbox episodes - send us a voice note or email us at [email protected]. You can remain anon! 

HOSTS: Lisa Lie and Em Vernem

GUEST: Karan Anand - Managing Director & Chief Strategy Officer at HNRY (Check them out if you're a sole trader and want to automate your tax!)

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Courtney Ammenhauser

SENIOR PRODUCER: Thom Lion
VIDEO PRODUCER: Marlena Cacciotti

Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribe

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Everyone seems to have an opinion about the "right" way to work.

Get a secure job.
Start a business.
Build a side hustle.
Work remotely.
Be your own boss.

But once you strip away the Instagram reels and LinkedIn success stories... which path actually leads to more freedom, more money and less stress?

In this episode of Biz, Lisa Lie and Em Vernem unpack the biggest myths about modern work with with a peek behind the curtain to see how Australians on either side of the ledger feel about employment, freelancing and self-employment.

Together, they explore the trade-offs that rarely make it into the conversation, from flexibility and financial security to purpose, pressure and everything in between.

Whether you're climbing the corporate ladder, thinking about starting a side hustle or wondering if self-employment is really worth it, this episode will help you think more clearly about the career that's right for you.

In this episode you'll learn:

• Why social media has distorted the way we think about work.
• The biggest myths about being your own boss.
• What employees secretly envy about sole traders... and vice versa.
• Whether flexibility really leads to greater happiness.
• The hidden costs and hidden benefits of working for yourself.
• Practical questions to ask before making your next career move.

If you're standing at a career crossroads, this episode is the reality check you've been looking for.

THE END BITS

Support independent women's media.
Got a work life dilemma? Send us all the questions you definitely can't ask your boss for our Biz Inbox episodes - send us a voice note or email us at [email protected]. You can remain anon! 

HOSTS: Lisa Lie and Em Vernem

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Courtney Ammenhauser

SENIOR PRODUCER: Thom Lion
VIDEO PRODUCER: Marlena Cacciotti

Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

Become a Mamamia subscriber: https://www.mamamia.com.au/subscribe

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.