First Act

People, culture and organisation are Michelle Fotheringham’s bread and butter. As the cofounder of Werkling – an on-demand talent platform - Michelle spends her day-to-day immersed in helping businesses assemble their dream teams. But it wasn’t always the case. Michelle is a self-described corporate escapee who took the plunge into startup land during the pandemic, after realising people wanted to make the shift from work as life to work with purpose. If you want to get the lowdown on people and the future of work, Michelle shares plenty of advice as we delve into her first act as a founder.

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Jax Garrett puts the ‘game’ into ‘game-changer’. In 2018, the Newcastle-based entrepreneur founded GGWP Academy, an E-learning and Influencer marketplace platform to help gamers globally become full-timer creators and connect with sponsors. Jax has skin in the game – she’s a gamer herself and her son competed in a Pokemon tournament in the US when he was just nine. 

With an intimate knowledge of the esports industry, Jax saw an opportunity to change it from the inside – and she’s only getting started. Jax tells First Act about her unique career path, how she came up with GGWP Academy and what it means for the world’s next generation of gaming influencers.

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Jaimie Fuller always loved sports so it seems inevitable that he would one day find his place at the helm of a sporting company. His passion led him to become an outspoken advocate; championing fairness, equality and justice in the games he loved. Taking a stand is just part of who he is and even when his business crumbled and he filed for bankruptcy, he took the failure in style with a mea culpa to his brand’s fans. He’s here today to share the rise and fall of his beloved business, Skins, his journey as an activist and advocate and how he’s stepped up again to start a new game-changing venture that’s set to protect athletes from brain injuries.

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Sharon Williams is a marketing maverick and PR maven. While other agencies were still wrapping their heads around personal branding and business strategy, Sharon was coming up with her own trademarked formula - the Taurus Bullseye - which has led countless businesses and corporations to success.

She’s managed to do all this while being a single mum to three children and a survivor of multiple breast cancer diagnoses. Her no guts, no glory attitude is evident in everything she does – but it’s tempered with a kindness and generosity of spirit that is rare. She joins us today to share the highs and lows of a close to three-decade career.

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Luke ‘Cookie’ Cook is on a mission to change how we see and speak about mental health. Since launching his business Cuppa.TV during the pandemic, Cookie has put conversations about mental health and wellbeing on the national agenda. His daily discussions with movers and shakers in the wellness space have delivered a dose of optimism to a nation in need. He joins us to share the inspiration behind the Cuppa brand and how its helped him get through times of struggle too.

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He may be the cofounder of one of Australia’s most successful legal startups, but Tom Willis’s driving purpose is to help businesses be seen. Marketing is his raison d'être and he’s spent over a decade at the forefront of the digital marketing space.

As General Assembly’s go-to lecturer for all things marketing, he's taught thousands of students, marketers and business owners the ABCs of the latest digital trends. He joins us today to tell us how he got the marketing bug and why he's so passionate about sharing his wisdom.

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Anaita Sarkar knows how to back herself. The serial entrepreneur left behind a career in marketing to found her first brand, Olivia & Co, despite having no experience in fashion or small business. Several years later, horrified by the amount of waste her products were contributing to the planet, Anaita switched tack again to create Hero Packaging.

Since launching in 2018, Anaita’s compostable mailer has sold over 15 million units to 40,000 businesses globally. The accidental eco-warrior is now a passionate convert to sustainability and the green economy. Her can-do attitude has taken the startup from strength to strength and provides the perfect fodder for Anaita to deliver small business tips to a legion of 300,000 devoted TikTok followers.

Did we mention she’s also the author of the best-selling book Sell Anything Online? She’s here today to take a look back at her career and share some of the highs and lows of being a female founder.

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TV viewers may remember her as the red-jacketed judge on Shark Tank. But long before she landed on TV screens, crushing or uplifting the dreams of the nation’s entrepreneurs, Naomi Simson founded online success story, RedBalloon.

From humble beginnings in Naomi’s Balmain backyard, RedBalloon has grown to become a multimillion-dollar enterprise and is just one of the many strings to her bow. Today, Naomi is renowned as one of Australia’s most inspirational business leaders and philanthropists. She has nearly 2.8 million followers on LinkedIn; she’s an accomplished author and has one of the most popular business podcasts in Australia. Plus, she continues to play an active role at BigRedGroup.

She joins us today on First Act to dive into the genesis of RedBalloon, why you need to back yourself and how having a singular vision can help you succeed.

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