LADY-BRAINS

This episode was produced in partnership with Thermomix Australia.

Grace and Bianca are the mother daughter duo behind the Australian & New Zealand arm of Thermomix. In this episode, Grace shares the story of discovering Thermomix in Poland, before lugging one all the way back to Perth, before spending the following year trying to secure its exclusive distribution rights for Australia. 

You’ll learn: 

• How Grace spent 12 months securing the Aus & NZ licensing deal from German parent company, Vorwerk 
• How they started the brand from their family home; holding all cooking demos in the kitchen, and meetings in the lounge room 
• How the word spread rapidly throughout Perth in the early days, and the team’s top tips for generating word of mouth 
• How Grace and Bianca use DISC profiling to understand their strengths, as well as their blind spots 
• What it’s like to work together as a mother-daughter duo 
• How they’ve been able to create over 70,000 recipes 
• Why they’ve recently expanded their sales model from consultant-driven to e-commerce  
• How they’ve built the brand into a household name, employing over 200 staff and 3000 contractors across Australia and NZ 

Thermomix have generously offered our audience the chance to win a Classic White Thermomix TM6, valued at $2359. Enter here: www.thermomix.com.au/ladybrains

(Competition closes March 31, 11:59PM AEST)  

Find us at www.ladybrains.com.au  

Follow us on Instagram @lady.brains 

Chat to us in the Facebook group, the lady-brains clubhouse

Discover your strengths at www.viacharacter.org

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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Sarah Munro is one half of the iconic Aussie label Sarah & Sebastian, best known for its beautiful, fine jewellery designs. In this chat Sarah tells the story of being picked up by the French high fashion boutique, Colette, and how, over a decade later, Sarah and her co-founder Robert have built the business to a team of 100 people, have stores in Sydney and Melbourne, and have expanded the brand into a whole range of services.  

You’ll learn: 

• How Sarah approached the decision to quit her fulltime job to go all in on the business  
• How Sarah’s naivety in the early days contributed to taking bigger risks 
• Why Sarah & Sebastian actually started out as a wholesale brand, rather than retail 
• How they operate with a made-to-order business model, at scale  
• Why Sarah prefers to remain behind the scenes, rather than being the face of the brand 
• How Sarah learnt to hand over control and trust her team 
• Why Sarah prioritises her personal life (even though switching off from the business can be hard) 

This episode is made possible by ShipStation. To get a 30 day free trial PLUS 2 months free, use the code ladybrains at https://hubs.la/Q014rkPG0

~ Connect with us ~

Find us at www.ladybrains.com.au  

Follow us on Instagram @lady.brains 

Chat to us in the Facebook group, the lady-brains clubhouse 

Have a sweet business idea but unsure if it has potential? Sign up for the free 'Idea Validation Mini Course' here. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welp, it's been a year! In this chat, Anna & Caitlin reflect on 2021 and share their biggest struggles, successes and learnings. You'll hear:

• Why Anna & Caitlin started seeing a therapist together and how this practice has radically transformed their business partnership
• How they learnt that ruthless prioritisation is the key to getting sh*t done
• Why their focus has shifted from being a content-led business to a product-led business
• Why they've been a little absent from the podcast over the last few months
• What's in store for 2022, including the exciting launch of an online course that has been in the works for almost 2 years!

Find us at www.ladybrains.com.au  

Follow us on Instagram @lady.brains 

Chat to us in the Facebook group, the lady-brains clubhouse 

Have a sweet business idea but unsure if it has potential? Sign up for the free 'Idea Validation Mini Course' here. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hannah and Pippa are the charismatic co-founders of Merch Girls; a product design agency that creates beautiful, custom merch for some of the biggest brands in Australia including MECCA, the Australian Open, and lady-brains! 

In this chat, the duo share how they landed their first major client – the Australian Ballet, how they survived COVID despite their entire pipeline drying up, and why they credit their success to building strong, meaningful relationships.  

You’ll learn: 

• How they finally landed the Australian Open as a client after being knocked back countless times 
• How and why the duo put Merch Girls before their friendship  
• How gifting an ‘e-merch-ancy' box to clients when COVID hit helped them generate new business  
• Why the team is now focused on building out their sustainable range  
• Why their philosophy is happy staff, happy clients, happy suppliers 

Find us at www.ladybrains.com.au  

Follow us on Instagram @lady.brains 

Chat to us in the Facebook group, the lady-brains clubhouse 

Have a sweet business idea but unsure if it has potential? Sign up for the free 'Idea Validation Mini Course' here. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Grace and TJ are the brains behind First Nations Fashion and Design, a not-for-profit organisation that creates opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people within the fashion industry. They made history at Afterpay Australian Fashion Week in 2021 as the first ever indigenous show to be part of the fashion week program. 

 You’ll learn:  

• How their runway show generated 65% of all Fashion Week media coverage, reaching over 77 million people. 
• How they pulled off AAFW with just 4 months to prepare  
• How they make their business partnership work when they live on opposite sides of the country 
• How it’s taken over a decade of hard work and resilience to get to where they are 
• Why their impact drives every single decision they make 

Find us at www.ladybrains.com.au  

Follow us on Instagram @lady.brains 

Chat to us in the Facebook group, the lady-brains clubhouse  

Have a sweet business idea but unsure if it has potential? Sign up for the free 'Idea Validation Mini Course' here. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We first interviewed Alison Rice back in 2018. At the time, Alison was a Group Publisher of Allure Media, and at the very end of our chat she told us about the soon-to-be launch her own podcast.

That podcast is Offline, and since we spoke 3 years ago, Alison quit her high-flying corporate role and has built Offline into a brand with a cult following that offers the podcast, events, online courses, coaching and more. 

In this chat you’ll learn:  

• Why Alison is bringing a business partner on board to help her take Offline to the next level 
• Why Alison’s business strategy is built around listening, then responding 
• The tensions that exist as a business owner between letting things unfold vs. pushing forward 
• Why Alison carves out time for her to retreat, reflect and think, as well as time to create and launch her ideas 
• How she deals when she gets caught in the comparison trap 
• Why she believes that she’s currently earning trust from her audience rather than earning money  

~ Connect with us ~

Sign up for our non-spammy monthly newsletter: www.ladybrains.com.au

Follow us on Instagram: @lady.brains

Chat with us in the Facebook group: the lady-brains clubhouse

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last year, an estimated 13.8 million Aussies spent around $5 billion dollars over the 4-day Black Friday period. That’s a whopping lot of cash, and it represents a huge opportunity for product-based businesses. If you're a founder and want to get in on this sales opportunity, but are unsure how to go about it, this episode is for you. We chat with digital marketing and e-commerce expert Gabriella Singh about how to design and deliver your best Black Friday campaign ever.

You'll learn:

• How to design your epic Black Friday offer
• How to set sales targets and allocate your marketing spend
• How to design a creative campaign that lives across all stages of the marketing funnel - from awareness, to consideration, through to purchase

~ Connect with us ~

If you need a little more help, we've designed a Black Friday Crash Course to help you deliver your campaign and have your best sales weekend ever! Access the course at www.ladybrains.com.au/blackfriday-course

Sign up for our non-spammy monthly newsletter: www.ladybrains.com.au

Follow us on Instagram: @lady.brains

Chat with us in the Facebook group: the lady-brains clubhouse

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GREATEST HITS - recorded in 2020.

Jodie Fox is the co-founder of Shoes of Prey, a brand that allowed women to design their shoes in any colour, material, shape or size. In this chat provides insights into how she achieved on-demand manufacturing and customisation at scale, how she raised over $27 million in funding, and why in 2019 it all came crashing down around her. We learn what it was really like for Jodie to fail in such a public way. 

You’ll learn: 

• Why Jodie thinks the business failed, and what she would do differently if she had her time again 
• How her identity was wrapped up in being an entrepreneur, and what this meant for her after Shoes of Prey closed its doors  
• The challenges with the mass on-demand manufacturing business model  
• How she raised over $27 million in funding to scale the business globally  
• The importance of being curious and doing your research when building a business  

~ Connect with us ~

Sign up to our non-spammy monthly newsletter: www.ladybrains.com.au

Follow us on Instagram: @lady.brains

Chat to us in the Facebook group: the lady-brains clubhouse

Have a sweet business idea but unsure if it has potential? Sign up for the free 'Idea Validation Mini Course' here.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GREATEST HITS - recorded in 2020.

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-to-Consumer brands are revolutionising the beauty industry
• How to build a good reputation, and keep it

~ Connect with us ~

Sign up to our non-spammy monthly newsletter: www.ladybrains.com.au 

Follow us on Instagram: @lady.brains 

Chat to us in the Facebook group: the lady-brains clubhouse

Have a sweet business idea but unsure if it has potential? Sign up for the free 'Idea Validation Mini Course' here. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

GREATEST HITS - recorded in 2020.

Alex McCabe, co-founder of Aussie lifestyle and homewares brand Kip&Co, shares insights into how swift decision-making earlier this year in response to the COVID pandemic secured the longevity of the business, as well as advice on how fashion brands should approach pricing, new product development, and securing press.

In this chat we covered: 

• How Kip&Co secured their first 10 stockists from a trade show in Melbourne  
• The fine balance of where to spend your marketing dollars, and why it’s important to invest in paid advertising and PR  
• Why Kip&Co choses to work with an agent in India instead of directly with the manufacturers  
• The impact of COVID on their supply chain  
• The Kip&Co creative process, and why investing in brand (especially photoshoots) is so important

~ Connect with us ~

Sign up to our monthly newsletter: www.ladybrains.com.au 

Follow us on Instagram: @lady.brains 

Chat to us in the Facebook group: the lady-brains clubhouse

Have a sweet business idea but unsure if it has potential? Sign up for the free 'Idea Validation Mini Course' here. 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.