We’re told that small change won’t make a big impact, but what if it could change your whole mindset? In this episode of Dare to be Rich, I sit down with Brendan Malone, CEO of Raiz Invest, to talk about the power of micro-investing, why financial literacy starts with simplicity, and how tech can create wealth for people who never thought investing was “for them”.
Brendan shares stories from his own journey – from buying Foster’s shares as a trainee accountant to building a fintech company that now serves over 700,000 Australians. We talk about how investing small amounts consistently can lead to big shifts over time, how to get started even if you feel totally overwhelmed, and why women, in particular, are changing the face of investing in Australia.
If you’ve ever felt like investing is too complicated or out of reach, this conversation will make you feel like you can actually do it. Because you can.

You can earn well, be a successful entrepreneur, and still end up with nothing to show for it. In this episode of Dare to be Rich, I’m joined by Vanessa Stoykov – money educator, journalist, and founder of Evolution Media – to talk about how childhood beliefs, financial stress, and even success can sabotage your wealth if you’re not paying close attention.
Vanessa shares why she never called herself a financial expert – even though she built and sold one of Australia's biggest financial training companies – and opens up about the realities of divorce at 50, the importance of knowing your numbers, and how most women have no idea what they own until it’s too late. She also unpacks the emotional baggage many of us carry from childhood that shapes our spending habits well into adulthood.
This is an episode about honesty, resilience, and the hard-won wisdom that comes from unlearning everything you thought you knew about money.

Possibly the fastest and most devastating way to lose wealth is not through divorce or sharemarket falls, but to have it stolen from you through a romance scam. With women needing to overcome multiple structural obstacles in order to reach wealth parity with men, to then have that wealth snatched from them by a romance scam feels twice as unfair.

The total money lost to scams in 2024 in Australia was $2 billion, with romance scams accounting for a staggering $157m of lost money. In this episode, I’m joined by Tracy Hall, a victim of a romance scam perpetrated by Australia’s most notorious conman, Hamish McLaren. She was scammed $317,000 out of her super by him, in a harrowing story which has now led to her becoming an advocate for victims of scams and fraud. Tracy shares her story with us, the red flags to look out for and how she’s rebuilt her super - and her life - subsequently.