When Ecoya CEO Claire Barnes was 23, she lost $100,000 of her dad’s life insurance money on a failed business. The experience left her with a fear of failure so strong it followed her for nearly two decades, even as she rose to lead one of New Zealand’s most successful lifestyle brands.

In this episode of Making Cents, Frances Cook talks to Claire about what it takes to rebuild after financial loss, how to turn failure into a learning curve, and why she now believes fear is proof you’re on the right path.

Claire shares the hard-won lessons behind her career; from driving boxes of candles around the country, to running Ecoya, and now launching Bowie, an at-home microneedling and skincare startup she funded after selling her family home.

This conversation covers:

• Overcoming the fear of failure in business and life
• Rebuilding confidence after losing money
• Investing in yourself and starting again
• Entrepreneurship and leadership in New Zealand
• Turning anxiety into action and using fear as motivation

Even after a $100k setback, you can still build back stronger.

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This podcast was filmed and produced by Fanaticals

Video editing & content production by Lana Byrne 

Audio engineering by Tash Chittock

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