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If you think losing your job would set you back financially… this week’s Money Diary might change your mind.
In 2018, our diarist lost her corporate role and six-figure salary overnight. What followed wasn’t a scramble to replace it, but a decision to finally back herself and start the business she’d been putting off. What began as a one-woman operation in a granny flat is now a multi-million dollar business with a team of 20.
We chat about the leap, the reality behind the growth, and what it actually takes to build something from nothing. If you’ve ever thought “could I do that?”… this one’s for you.
SORT YOUR INSURANCE: A big thank you to our partner Skye Wealth for bringing this episode to life. If you're ready to get your insurances sorted, you can learn more about them here.We have a long standing referral partnership with Skye Wealth and only ever partner with people we trust.
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Ready to binge more relatable, inspiring, and downright juicy money stories? Check out our ultimate Money Diaries playlist. Listen now
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Acknowledgement of Country By Nartarsha Bamblett aka Queen Acknowledgements.
The advice shared on She's On The Money is general in nature and does not consider your individual circumstances. She's On The Money exists purely for educational purposes and should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision. If you do choose to buy a financial product, read the PDS, TMD and obtain appropriate financial advice tailored towards your needs. Victoria Devine and She's On The Money are authorised representatives of Money Sherpa PTY LTD ABN - 321649 27708, AFSL - 4451289
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
My name is Natasha Bamblet.
I'm a proud first nation's woman,
and I'm here to acknowledge country.
T. Glignan Ganya.
Neyana Kakayali in Binawaka.
Neyana Ganya in Bina Yakarumja.
Duminya Gumiga, Duminya Ithawaka,
Nidawaman Daman Imalan.
Momobangara Bama in Nyanwaka.
Ganya Yakarumja.
Wutuna Rana.
Hellay, beautiful friends.
We gather on the lands of the Aboriginal people.
We thank, acknowledge and respect the Aboriginal people's land
that we're gathering on today.
Take pleasure in all the land and respect all that you see.
She's on the money podcast,
acknowledges culture, country, community, and connections.
Bringing you the tools, knowledge, and resources for you to thrive.
She's on the money.
She's on the money.
Hello and welcome to She's on the money.
The podcast that lets you be pervy about other people's money habit,
for educational purposes, of course.
We'll come back to another one of our money diaries episodes
where we get to talk with one of our incredible She's on the money community members
all about their journey and this time business.
Let's jump straight into it because this week I got an email and it sound exactly like this.
Dear She's on the money.
In 2018, my world shifted overnight.
My corporate management role was gone,
along with the security of a six-figure salary.
I was so stressed and overwhelmed by the uncertainty.
But this was the perfect opportunity to launch a business idea
that I'd been sitting on for a while.
What began as a one-woman operation in a granny flat
quickly evolved into something much bigger.
And I'd love to share the story with you.
Money diaries, welcome to the show.
Hi, how are you?
Lovely to be here today.
Oh my goodness, sorry.
Just a one-woman operation working out of a granny flat.
Was that because you lived there or was that your office?
No, so I had a granny flat built at the side of my house for my mom
when she came to stay with us.
Yeah.
But she hated it.
She hated it.
She refused to stay in there.
So we had this incredible little space and...
And she was like a granny flat?
No, I'm sleeping in your bed.
Yeah, she wanted to be in the house with the kids and the family
and being the thick of family life,
which is beautiful in itself.
But...
But also sometimes we need some space, Mum.
What's that about?
Yeah, and then I just thought it would be the perfect space
to launch the next step of my career.
Perfect.
And you're dead right.
I was in this in this place of complete uncertainty.
I'd lost my job overnight.
I was like, what am I going to do?
I had two young kids.
No, that just adds to the stress.
I really didn't want to go back to traveling for work.
And so I was like, it's now or never.
Let's do this.
Now's the time.
So the granny flat was a perfect place to start the business.
I needed to separate work and home.
And that's where the business was born.
I'm obsessed.
So let's go back a little bit.
I want to know before we get into asking about your money story
and how that came to be.
What grade would you give your money habits from A through to F
if I asked you to give them a grade?
I'd say an A minus.
Oh, okay.
Let's go.
What's really important?
No, I love it.
I'm also like, why not A plus?
We've got questions.
But money, Doris, let's rewind.
Tell me a little bit more about your money story.
So I think the money story for me started at quite a young age.
I've been brought up in a family where both my parents
were highly educated,
big focus on education for myself.
And I always saw Mum and Dad being very astute
with how they spent their money.
You know, they saved well and those habits formed
in me at quite a young age.
In saying that though, they never let me work until I was 18.
My focus was on education up until I was 18.
They made sure that school and education
was the primary investment of my time.
Then when I turned 18, I was studying
and I worked three jobs.
Three, you went, oh, I've got to make up for lost time here.
I did. I did.
You're exactly right.
I had to make up for lost time.
And I diligently saved for my first house,
which I purchased at 19.
Sorry, what?
You weren't allowed to work until you were 18.
Uh-huh.
I feel like I'm saying that in a way where you were like,
I don't know, deprived.
But I have a sneaky suspicion.
It was more because your parents really wanted you to like,
just focus on education.
Is that right?
Like, was that attention point?
Not 100 percent.
Yeah, okay.
Mum and Dad's focus for me was to make sure
that I made the most of my education
that I didn't have any distractions.
Yeah.
I was very involved in sport as well.
So my downtime to work was limited.
But they really wanted to make sure
that my focus was on my education.
So I could then leap frog,
I guess, into a really good career.
And I'm extremely grateful for them
setting those boundaries with me at a young age.
But also learning from them.
Yeah, I love that.
That's such a privilege
because so many kids are like,
oh, I'm 14, nine months.
Gotta get my first job and manage all of that.
Like, how good?
And don't get me wrong.
I still had jobs that I had to do at home.
Like, I still had to contribute to...
I'm getting the vibe that your parents
were pretty switched on in terms of like
teaching you about responsibility
and, you know, being astute with money
and focusing on the way that you've been talking about this.
I'm like, okay, I kind of picken up the vibes
and I think everyone else is.
I just really wanted to clarify them.
Like, when you said you weren't allowed,
it wasn't like some financial abuse situation
where you're not allowed a job.
It was more a supportive situation.
And I just want to be really clear about that.
Yeah, definitely not.
Definitely not.
Their focus was always on education.
And I'm very grateful that they gave me
that opportunity to dial in to my studies.
And that's a habit that I'm still to this day
furthering my education, still in my 40s.
It's a big part of my life.
I've got a lot of questions
about you buying your first home at 19.
But I want to pick up on something
that you said just before before I get there.
Because I'm like chomping at the bit to ask about that.
But if you were, you know, not allowed to work
or like your parents were like, you need to focus on education.
But all your friends had probably some pocket money
or disposable income.
What did that look like?
Because like, I remember, you know,
using my income for the things that I wanted to do
and go to the movies or, you know,
buy another rocksy pencil case from their surf shop.
Like, what did that look like?
Was there any, like, I don't know, envy of your friends
who had disposable income or?
Definitely not.
Mum and dad were very generous.
I must say that too.
They were very generous.
But that didn't also avoid me
from the responsibilities of my jobs
that I had to undertake at home.
So there were still roles and responsibilities
that I had to fulfill as being part of the family unit.
And that's where I guess the fruits of having
a little bit of cash from the weekend came from.
But yeah, I was very lucky.
They were definitely very generous.
I never felt like I missed out
on being able to do things that my friends were doing.
Yes, they, my friends definitely
did have more resources available to them
in terms of surplus, surplus money.
But I never felt like I missed out.
Yeah, good.
I was like, what did that feel like?
Because I mean, I'm a mum now and everybody knows that.
But I'm like, oh, hold on.
I haven't even thought about Harvey getting his first job.
Do I want that?
Do I want him to be like, how do I want this to figure out?
So it's just nice asking those questions.
But now we get to leapfrog to you being 18.
What was your first job of three?
Yeah, my first job was a waitress.
I think probably the right of passage for a lot of people.
Yeah.
So I worked as a waitress.
And then I also worked in a club in a local club.
I got my responsible service of alcohol
and poured beers in a club.
And I think those skills definitely gave me the ability
of how to communicate with people.
Absolutely.
And how to provide exceptional customer service.
I think that was found in me very, very young.
And then I got my first job as a trainee receptionist
as well at 18.
So I worked those three jobs
and squirreled away every single cent that I could
during that time.
So I could say it's for us.
Where did that work ethic come from?
Because you know, you haven't been able to work for so long.
And then you get your first job.
And I would assume that a lot of people in that situation
would be like, oh my goodness, first time I've got access
to essentially disposable cash.
Like, can I also be really pervy?
Were you still living at home at that point?
I was.
I was still living at home.
Mum and dad as soon as I turned to 18.
And I guess they got that year 12 over with for me.
My dad took a job overseas.
So mum and dad moved overseas.
They're breathing a sigh of relief.
They're like, she's done with year 12 money win, life win.
And they moved overseas.
So they gave me what was the family home?
Wow.
Again, that came with responsibility.
So I had to learn really quickly how to take care of yard,
mow the lawns, make sure, you know, I had enough money for food.
And the house was clean.
Like, it definitely taught me a lot.
You kind of quite moved out on your own, but not.
Yeah.
And I used that 12 months to really become an adult
to learn how to stand on my own two feet.
And my goal was to buy my own house.
I knew that they'd be away for a couple of years.
So I wanted my own place when they got back.
And I achieved that.
That work ethic, because I think a lot of 18-year-olds
would have been like, first job, waitress, going to the club.
I'm going to spend my money on beers and drinks.
But you just have your head screwed on.
Like, I just feel like you've got yourself set up.
So how much were you able to save in that first 12 months?
Because you already told us, I bought my first home at 19.
Girl, first job at 18, house at 19.
Yes.
So how?
I will preface that too.
Mum and Dad obviously helped me towards getting into my first home.
They made some really smart money choices when I was born.
And they put some money into an endowment fund.
Let's call it when I was born.
Oh, thanks, Mum.
Which they gave to me when they knew
that I was going to purchase my first home.
So I got $10,000 from them when I got into my first home.
And I saved the other $30,000 on my own.
OK, so 10K from Mum and Dad, and then 30K on your own
that you saved with entry-level jobs in 12 months.
Yeah.
Post-tax.
That is incredible.
I love that.
So $40,000 deposit.
What kind of house are we buying with that?
I know that I'm jumping ahead.
But like, girl, this is cool.
So I bought on the outskirts of Canberra.
So I was born and raised in Canberra.
So I obviously couldn't afford anything too wild,
but a three bedroom, single bathroom home
in one of the outer suburbs of Canberra.
And yeah, I purchased that home for $264,000.
And I have to be real pervy.
I know that you're 44 now.
What year did you purchase that first home in?
Because I feel like the tides are per changed.
Yeah, so that was 2001.
I would like to go back there.
I would very happily give you that amount of money
for a three bedroom home.
That would be very nice.
If you ever want to sell that to me
for what you purchased it for, you just keep me up.
Yeah, definitely.
You want me both.
I'd buy that house back in a second now.
Yeah, I know, right.
First home at 19.
What happened after 19?
Did you move in?
Did you rent it out?
Like, what's the journey?
Yeah, it worked really, really hard.
So after that short period of time,
I then decided to get back into education.
So that 12 months was just working,
saving with the goal to buy my own home.
Then after that slow career progression
in terms of just slowly started climbing the ladder.
So I went from a trainee receptionist
into an admin assistant role during that time I was studying.
So I was undertaking my diploma of accounting
at that time after hours.
So three nights a week,
I'd go to a local business college
to do my diploma of accounting.
That took me just over 18 months
to finish that off.
And again, all in the background,
I'm building my skills,
building my abilities in and around work
and getting lots of really good work experience.
And I chopped and changed a few jobs during that time.
And finally, sort of worked my way up
into low level management by my mid 20s,
probably 25, 26, my first office manager role,
which I loved in the building and construction sector.
And I sort of sat in the building and construction sector
for the next five to six years.
Yeah, okay.
And what kind of salary are we looking at?
Like are we looking at like as an office manager?
I feel like sometimes that could be really entry level.
But it sounds like you worked your way up
to getting into a good office manager role.
And then when you lay it on construction,
I was like, oh, they pay pretty well.
So like, what are we talking?
So I think in around 25 or 26,
I can't remember exactly.
But I think I was sitting somewhere around the 65 K per atom.
And that's pretty good.
Because that's backward 2007, 2008.
Yeah, 2007, 2007, 2008 around that time.
I'm just trying to do my maths as you're telling your story.
I'm like, always fact checking.
I'm always like, yeah, okay, and then what?
Okay, and then what?
Yeah.
So I mean, it was, you know, I definitely was living comfortably.
But there was a period of time before that.
Like you mentioned before with, you know,
all of my friends, you know, having access to cash.
When I first bought that house,
I remember some weeks, I would have, you know,
$40 left in the bank by the end of the week.
By the time I put petrol in my car,
I did my groceries, paid the bills, paid the mortgage,
squirreled the money away from red zone insurance.
Like there were some weeks that I was like, wow,
I don't have much left, you know, in the bank at the end of this.
But I also knew that I was sitting on an asset
that at some point that would pay off.
And it most certainly did.
Yeah, and that's like the compromise you make.
It doesn't feel incredible at the time.
Because you're like, oh, hey,
Emma, what are you doing today?
And then Emma says, I'm going out for drinks with the girls.
And you go, have fun.
It's just, it's not great.
But you also need to zoom out and be like,
oh, a bigger picture.
I'm doing pretty alright here.
But in the moment, it can feel like you're really missing out.
Yeah, it does.
And I guess I got back into my enjoying life.
And I guess a bit of a party girl phase in those mid 20s
when I had a bit more
disposable income available to me.
I think I made up for a bit of lost time
during that period of time.
And definitely enjoyed life a bit more.
Oh, good girl.
Now, it's about to say like, I won't call you highly strong,
but you're clearly highly motivated.
Has there been room for fun in this budget?
Like, and in this journey?
Because it's, sorry, three jobs, 18,
working your butt off, saving a heap,
buying it 19.
Yes, you will like, oh, thanks, mom and dad helped.
But they did only give you 25% of your,
and not only like a bloody privilege,
but like 25% of your deposit had you saved for a little bit longer,
you would have been able to do it all in your own.
Fantastic.
I would say the appearance aren't the reason
you got into your first home in general.
But that's a lot.
And then you're working your butt off.
You're in this like boozy office management role.
I'm like, hello, so yeah,
I had a lot more fun in my 20s.
And I regret some of these things.
But also, where's the fun bag?
Yeah, no, there was definitely fun in those mid to late 20s.
There was a lot of good times that were had then.
And I think I made up for it.
And I'm really glad I had that period of my life, too.
I think a bit more financially secure,
had a career.
There's definitely been fun.
And there's still fun now to this day,
even though the situation is much different today.
Still make sure that I have fun.
Okay, so then let's zoom forward.
Your 26 office manager role, 65 grand, it's 2007.
When did you move into this corporate management role
where you were earning six figures?
That happened in my late 20s.
So around 29, 30, I landed a very high-flying corporate role.
I was a national revenue manager
for a very large multinational corporation.
And I worked there for a couple of years
until I fell pregnant with my first child.
And there was travel involved with that role.
Oh, very cool.
And significant travel.
And that's where I started earning some really big dollars
during that period of time.
What's really big dollars mean?
I doubled my income at that point.
So it was around 120.
Yeah, wow.
And that is, especially in now, I'm keeping track, 2010,
a lot of money.
So 120K, bougie, what do you mean travel?
So you're like going around to the country,
around the world or...
Around the country, working with
on a large government contract,
even though it was a private company,
but working on a large government contract,
doing a lot of travel during that period of time.
Oh, how cool.
Yeah, it was great, really great experience,
skills that I've learned from that job.
I carried through with me today.
Love.
And so I've just heard the journey from basically 18 to 2930.
Can I ask about your personal life?
You said you had your first kid.
Have we met, like, the love of our life during that time?
Like, he takes two to 10, go to make a baby.
So how, where's that person come in?
So I actually met my husband when I was 14.
No, stop.
This is so cute.
Yeah, so we first met when I was 14, he was 16.
Oh, that's a big age gap back then.
It was, it was.
And, you know, we were in and out of each other's lives,
you know, up until I was about 18.
And then we don't live in the same town.
We didn't live in the same town.
And then when Facebook became a thing,
we reconnected.
And yeah, the rest is history.
So reconnected, we're together for about 12 months,
engaged, married in 2011.
Our daughter came in 2014.
Oh, my goodness.
So you'd been working at this, like,
National Rev Manager role for a few years
and then ended up pregnant.
That is so special.
Talked me through that change that you would have gone through
because going from, sorry, the National Revenue Manager
of a multinational corporation
to pregnant and planning maternity leave.
Fantastic, but also can feel really jarring.
That's a change of pace.
It was, it very much was.
And I went back to that role after my daughter was born
and loved it, but it was definitely challenging.
Being a first-time mom with the travel, with all of it,
I went back to work when our daughter was six months old
and was very, very challenging period of time, for sure.
You know, trying to operate in a role like that
on next to no sleep, pumping, you know,
in the bathrooms in my break.
Like, it was challenging.
But I loved it.
I was still very lit up by my role,
but they did come a time where I decided
I couldn't continue on at that pace.
And an old boss of mine had reached out and asked me
if I'd come back to work for him.
And yes, set me up with my own office
which stopped the travel.
And I did that for another couple of years
until that flipped on its head.
Yeah, wow.
So daughter in 2014, and then you went into this next role
with your old boss that hit you up.
When did you have your second baby?
I had my son in 2016.
Yeah, two years later, that's a good age gap.
Yeah, yeah.
So he came along in 2016.
And I definitely felt, everybody says,
you know, when you have two children
because the jump from one to two feels like one to 10.
And that's definitely how my life felt.
I feel really, so I should be scared for the future.
Okay, all right, I'm just prepping myself
as someone who wants babies always.
Yeah, it was a significant shift
having two young children still working
in a very senior role within an organization,
all of the pressures that came with that role.
Thankfully, having that flexibility was really important.
Like, I could work at whatever time during the day
in and around the kids, which was great.
I'd often work late of the night to find that balance,
which was awesome.
But having the two kids and balancing a job like that
definitely was a challenge for us.
And as a family.
Yeah, and so when you took this new role,
was it because it obviously gave you flexibility?
You like, I can't travel anymore,
but were there salary benefits as well?
Or were you like, no, I'll be on about the same?
It was funny.
Yeah, she's earning more, you should see her face.
It's funny when my boss contacted me
and was like, I'd love you to come back and work with me.
I remember saying to him,
you can't afford me anymore.
Like, we had a really good relationship.
Sorry, I've had a little bit of a finance glow up.
Yeah, we had this really great friendship.
And he was like, how do you know I can't afford you anymore?
And I was like, because you can't.
I know you can't.
Like, sorry, I'm not trying to be rude, but.
Yeah, and he was so proud of me
that I had worked my way up to a salary like that.
I remember him saying,
because I'm so proud of you.
Like that's what you've achieved.
You should be very proud of.
That's so good.
He met me at the salary I was on.
I didn't get an increase, but he met me at that salary level.
But I was saving a lot of money.
The travel.
Oh, yeah, absolutely.
And the mental load and the time, just the time
and just that flexibility of being able to be more present
with my kids.
I couldn't put a dollar value on that at the time.
Yeah, that's so good.
I love that for you, but you also said,
I had that job until it flipped on its head.
So tell me about that.
So it literally all came crashing down overnight.
He's empire of companies.
I can't deal with too much into what happened there,
but it wasn't like you came to work one day
and he was like, money-darest,
I don't even like you anymore, you're fired.
It wasn't that it was like definitely not, definitely not.
It was a lot more complex than that.
Businesses went bankrupt or something like that.
Yeah, it was definitely a lot more complex than that.
Very sad sort of events that transpired there.
Thankfully, none of them were due to financial mismanagement
or anything like that.
It was a very stupid businessman.
Just made some poor decisions.
So I'm going to ask you about that offline.
Yeah, you can ask me on point for sure.
You're going to be like, give me the tea.
Give me the tea because that sounds juicy.
And you know what I love?
I love gossip that doesn't involve me.
Anybody I know, don't want to know.
But some man that I've never met, I need to know his gossip.
It was actually a really, really difficult period of my life,
but also really enlightening because it pushed me.
It gave me that big push to go, right?
It's now or never.
You've now got the perfect opportunity
to start your own business.
Like you game enough to do it.
How old were your kids when you made the decision
to start your own business?
So that was in 2018.
So my daughter was four and my son was two.
Oh my goodness.
Do you know anyone have kids that are in school
and you've got all this extra time
and you basically are still in toddler and kind of mode?
Yeah, definitely.
Definitely.
They'll both in daycare.
It's crazy.
I love it.
It gave me some flexibility, which was really nice.
Yeah, it was definitely a wonderfully challenging period of time.
So what's it like to build your very first
and very own business, like 2018?
Tell me about that.
I remember waking up a couple of days
after my world came crashing down with my previous job,
but I remember saying to my husband,
I was like, will you back me if I go out on my own?
If you said no, grounds for divorce.
So yeah, good, I'm glad that worked out for you.
And because I knew that it would come
at a financial cost to us for a while
and he was like, yeah, absolutely.
What are you going to call this business?
Love.
And I like that that he's like, oh, it's not about the semantics.
What are we calling this because we're doing it?
Yeah.
Yeah, he 100% backed me.
He's still my biggest backer to this day.
He actually works in the business now.
So, oh, stop it.
Yeah, so he has always been my biggest supporter,
along with my parents, looping my mum and dad back into it again.
You know, during that period of time,
I relied on them very heavily for their wisdom and guidance
and leaned on them a lot during that period of time.
I love that.
And I slowly started building a team of people around me.
I knew that if I wanted to execute this business well,
that I would have to build a team around me
that we're really good at the things that I wasn't good at.
Okay, yep, perfect.
And I feel like that takes a level of like self-understanding
to go, I'm not very good at this.
And that can be really hard.
Yeah.
I wanted to be out there growing the business as well
and meeting people who needed my services
and making sure I was networking
and getting in front of the right people.
And thankfully, the country town that we live in
has a really strong business community.
And I leveraged into that a lot.
And the first two years, I didn't pay myself.
So, it was only thanks to good saving
and having a good pot of money behind us,
my husband and I, that allowed me to really invest
everything that I own for the business back into the business.
Oh, how good.
So tell me, what type of business is this
and how much does it earn each year?
Yeah, sure.
So there's two businesses now.
Oh, okay, big dog.
Yeah, two businesses now.
One is a business solutions firm.
We provide full-end office support to businesses.
So that's bookkeeping, admin, virtual reception,
social and digital marketing, human resources.
Oh, very cool.
So a one-stop shop for businesses to outsource
the pain areas that they find in their business.
Yep.
And the other business is a debt collection business.
Oh, I love that.
Do you know what?
I reckon you'd be terrifying on the phone in a good way.
Do you know what our slogan is for that business?
Is it's debt collection with a difference?
Love.
And we go about debt collecting, not in your typical way.
I believe that everything is resolvable
through good communication and good relationships.
Yeah.
And if you assign those same principles to collecting money,
you'll often be quite successful.
You're smart woman.
So we just go about it a little bit differently
to what you would envisage your typical debt collector to be.
I don't have any debts that need to be collected now,
but next time I do, I'ma call you.
Yeah, sure.
Please do.
So tell me now what type of revenue and like employee head
count are we looking at?
You said you've already know you've got employees.
What's that look like?
Yeah.
So we've got a team of 20 now.
20.
20?
Yeah.
Look at you go.
And we turned over last year in excess of $2 million.
Excuse me.
I love this for you.
Do you sometimes go, I did that.
Yeah.
I mean, I'm very, very proud of what we've achieved.
I'm very, very proud of the staff that we have
and the people that we've developed within the business
being in a small country town has had its challenges
in recruiting talent, but we have been able to develop
and grow some exceptional women.
We've got a very large female employee base
and we've been able to really develop those staff.
And some of them now, they run rings around me.
Good.
And I'm really, really proud of that.
I say that all the time about my business.
Like, I actually want you to be better at this than me.
Yeah.
Like, I'm hiring you because I think you're way smarter than me
and better at it, otherwise I would be controlling
and just do it myself, which can be humbling
when I'm like, hey, guys, I've got this good idea
and they're like, oh, no, I'll go, oh, OK.
I'll just go sit in the corner then, thank you.
I think the really important thing about building
a successful business is leaning into the people
you have around you.
Great.
And also empowering them to show up at their best
and also working on their strengths.
There's some people within our team
that I can really identify where they're going to succeed
very quickly.
And I'm like, let's do more of that.
It's paid off.
You sound like a leader, not a manager.
And I love that so, so much.
I still love being on the tool, so I still
love getting my hands dirty.
But a leader does that.
A manager does them.
Yeah, true.
I'll lead a show's people by being with them
and working with them, not sitting above them
and quite leading.
And you're not cracking a whip.
You're literally in the trenches, getting it done with them.
That's what good leadership is about.
Now, I'm going to pivot back to your personal life.
And I also want to touch on the same thing
for business, I suppose.
What are your current big money goals?
What are you currently working towards?
My big money goals would be to set my children up,
breaking into the property market these days is so difficult.
I'm seeing some of my friends with older kids
really struggling to get into the property market.
So one of my big goals would be getting myself to a point
where I can buy a couple of investment properties
to leverage that for them.
They've still got high school education to come.
I was privately school educated, and I thank my parents
every day, not in any way, discrediting our public system.
We have got a fantastic public system,
but I loved my private school education,
and I believe it has set me up for life.
And I want to be able to give my children
those opportunities.
So I know I've got a few years of quite
taxi school fees coming up for them.
So that's been one of my big savings.
I've been working diligently towards that
to make sure that their school fees will be covered.
And they're crazy these days.
Like they're crazy.
I did not realise how astronomical school fees have gotten,
like I had the privilege of going to a Catholic school.
So it was definitely not a full private school,
but it was Catholics also, kind of like that in between,
I suppose.
And I really, really value to that.
But it's one of those funny things
where the public education is great.
And I go, that's fantastic,
but I didn't have that experience.
Like I don't know what that looks like.
But what I know is I got a good education
and I also want my children to have that,
and if it's financially viable for me,
like that's what I'll do.
And that's honestly human nature.
We do what we're comfortable with.
So it kind of makes sense.
So true.
And, you know, I'm really grateful
for my parents affording me that.
Yeah.
Because I can look back now and retrospect and go,
those things that I learnt through school
are the values that have now been instilled in me.
It's an adult woman.
And I, you know, I'm very grateful.
And I want to be able to give my kids those opportunities,
not to say they might not get to the end of year 12.
And I'd be super, super happy for, you know,
them ending up in a trade or doing whatever.
But just giving them that foundation
to do whatever they want to do is really important to me.
No, I love that.
And I'd love to retire early.
That's my other big money goal.
That's sexy.
What would that mean?
Like, but you've got businesses.
Like, you're not coming across as the kind of gal
the ones to hang out boots up yet.
And no, I'm not, I'm not really,
definitely not ready to hang my boots up yet.
But I would love to be semi retired, sort of in my mid 50s,
another 10 years.
It would be nice to take a bit of a back seat,
maybe sit on some not-for-profit boards
or do something with my time.
Yes, please.
I can contribute back a little bit.
Would be nice.
And just not being a rat race, you know, running business.
I think in about 10 years' time,
I'll be ready to maybe work a little bit part time.
Yeah, I love that.
Now, I have to be even more pervy
because you said your business has a $2 million revenue,
which is fantastic, and that you didn't
for the first two years in business pay yourself.
But you did drop earlier that your husband now works
in the business.
It does.
What would you say is like your combined family income now?
So we're over 250.
OK, so very comfy.
Yeah, look, we don't pass up to you.
As well as asking combined, I'm like,
I know that people are going to recognize your voice
in your business.
So I was like, just tell me what like combined.
Yeah.
On average, because some businesses, right?
Like, they go, oh, we're still skimping.
Like, you know, I've got all these big money goals,
but like, we're still paying ourselves 40 grand a year.
Or on the flip side, it's like, I do genuinely,
like, you have to be in the trenches
for a little bit to establish things.
But then I also believe in paying yourself first
and putting yourself as a priority first
because you can't pour from an empty cup.
So true.
And look, it's very easy to get to,
like, we had an exceptional year last year.
So there's some dividends there
that, you know, I can play around with as well.
So yes, I could pay myself more.
We could take home more, but we don't need more.
At this point either.
So I'd rather the money sit there in the companies.
I can make longer term decisions
and have access to those funds
to help grow the businesses further.
Not to mention that's very tax effective.
So we're very comfortable.
We're very comfortable.
And, you know, the good thing is,
if I need access to further money in the future,
well, then I know it's there.
Yeah, no, and I love that as well.
I obviously try to be as transparent as possible
with my business journey just because I know it helps people,
but then also, I'm like, where is the boundaries here?
Because I am a public figure.
Like, you know who I am when I talk about my income,
but I do the same.
Like, I have this base salary that I pay myself
that I go, okay, cool, like, you know,
my husband and I have done our budget
and we work out between his income and my income,
what that looks like.
And then, you know, at the end of the year,
when it's usually June actually,
I sit down with my account
and we do like some tax planning
and he'll let me know whether I can pull money out
of the business or what that looks like.
And to be honest, I love sitting on
a little bit of cash in the business
because one, tax effective.
Obviously, if I pull it out,
I'm paying my marginal tax rate
instead of the effective business rates.
But two, I just, I feel so secure knowing that if,
you know, something happened and like,
I don't know, I needed you to collect some debts.
I could still pay my bills in the interim
and my staff are, you know,
gonna be able to keep roofs over their heads.
Like that just, there's a lot of responsibility
and you probably feel that too with 20 staff.
Yeah, there definitely is a lot of responsibility
and look, cash is king, cash is king
and having options for cash is power for me.
So yeah, it'd be great to be rolling around
in wards of $100 notes, you know,
that'd be lovely and buying all of the,
you know, designer things and what have you.
But that's not where I get my value from.
It's not your journey either.
I really enjoy being able to just live comfortably.
That makes me happy.
Live comfortably.
We don't have to worry about money,
which is really, really nice.
I've been there.
I've worried about money.
It's been a part of my life in those younger years
when I was in my house for the first time
and then also those couple of years
where I was growing the business.
We accessed all of our savings, you know,
we, that was a stressful period of time for us financially.
So yeah, it's absolutely nice to not have to worry now.
But also plan for the future is also important.
Adore, so now flip that question.
So what are your big money goals for the business?
So the big money goals are for the business to continue to grow.
So we want to open up another office outside of the regional base
that we're in at the moment.
Get into one of the big city centers
which we're planning on doing in 2027.
That's so exciting.
You do need some cash for that, though.
Definitely just to access talent
to take the business to the next level
means that we have to establish ourselves in an area
where we can access more talent.
Yeah, totally.
That's so exciting.
All right, I have a lot more questions for you.
So let's go to a really quick break in on the flip side.
We're going to be talking investment and more about debt
and best and worst money habits.
So guys, don't go anywhere.
All right, money diarist.
I'm going to dive straight in.
I'm going to make the assumption that the biggest investment
you have in your life is your business.
Is that correct?
Yes, most certainly.
I feel like most business owners are like that.
But what are your thoughts around investing?
Is that something that you guys are doing?
Is that something that you're like,
no, everything goes back into the business at this point
because, like, sorry, you've got a business
with a $2 million revenue.
So that's pretty good.
That's a pretty good ROI.
Given you built that from scratch.
Yeah, well, look, we do have some investments.
I've got some crypto investments.
There's a family share portfolio.
But nothing, definitely nothing extravagant.
There's nothing extravagant sitting in there.
I'm definitely not a savvy investor.
I do work closely with a financial planner
to make sure that we keep things on track
and we're smart with our money.
One of my biggest things is we do pump a fair bit of money
into our super girl.
That is something I've been doing for a long period of time.
And now that I've got more resources
to be able to do that, pushing money into super
is probably one of my investment strategies at the moment.
I love that.
Why super over having, you know, you said
you had a family investment portfolio.
Why have you gone, all right?
Well, only because I'm literally following this
along with a fine tooth comb.
If you want to retire early, like in your 50s,
how's that part of the strategy?
Yeah, so obviously I work with our financial planner
to work out where's the best way
and most tax effective way as well to invest some money.
100% and super is one of our strategies at the moment.
So it could change in 12 months time,
but that's the strategy at the moment.
We don't have a huge shift portfolio
or anything savvy or extravagant like that,
but we do have some money tucked away there in shares.
Hopefully for a bit of a rainy day payout one day.
Yeah, totally.
And I think this is going to say,
I'm just sharing parts of my journey
because I feel like it resonates as well with the episode.
But I've been talking to my financial advisor,
which I think a lot of people are really confused
that I have because they're like,
weren't you an advisor?
And I was like, yes, but it's kind of like the plumber
who has a leaky tap.
Like if you don't have your finger on the pulse
and for me, an additional third party checking in
and going, hey, Vee, like, what have we thought
about this, this and this?
I just leave it to the wayside
and we've just started having conversations
about subrenuation that, you know,
I obviously know what I'm talking about.
But they're like, Vee, I think that we should be pumping
a bit more in here now.
I'm basically making, hey, well, the sun's shining,
it's more tax-effective, et cetera, et cetera.
Because until now, everything has really gone
into my personal investment portfolio
because I do want to retire early.
But I also want to make the most of a very sexy
tax environment and like also set future me
who, yeah, she hopefully will be retired
by the time she gets to that.
But can have an even cushier life?
Like there's just a lot going on.
So I just think it's so interesting that both of us,
like you are obviously two really incredible businesses
and I would say someone who runs a business solutions
business covering literally everything,
you probably could do it yourself.
But sometimes you need the outside help
and the like guidance and someone that just kind of like,
goes, yep, this is what we're doing
and then helps you facilitate it.
Yeah, I think you need experts in their field advising you.
So I'm definitely not a financial planner,
or a financial advisor.
So I lean on people who are experts in that field.
You know, I've got a fabulous accountant who,
you know, as you had mentioned before, tax planning,
like that's something that I do with her every year.
I really enjoy that time with her.
We ask lots of questions and, you know,
work out the best strategy to make sure that
when minimizing our tax,
you're getting the most benefit for the businesses
and ourselves personally.
So yeah, definitely relying on the network of people around me.
I don't have all the answers, most certainly not.
And they do.
So I'll talk to them about it.
Money win.
Talk to me now about debt.
So in both business and then in personal life,
what debts are you carrying?
What does that look like?
So right at this point in time at this exact point in time,
two mortgages, because we've just sold our family home
and moved in for a new family home,
which has been really, really exciting.
So how fun.
We just in the process.
Yeah, it's so exciting.
It's been lovely.
My husband and I built our first home
and we've raised our kids there.
And it's in the process of being sold.
And we bought a new home
and we've been in here for a little while.
So we're carrying two mortgages at the moment,
but that should all be done at the end of this month.
And when you say done, you mean you'll drop back down
to like one mortgage, single mortgage, single mortgage.
And then we've just got two motor vehicles.
That's the only debt we have, including the business.
And are those personal cars or business cars?
Business cars.
Yes, I was about to be like,
tell me you've got that in your business.
Like don't get it wrong.
There's a whole heap of like things
that you take into consideration.
But we definitely pay FBT on those cars
because we use them as a hybrid of business and personal.
But yeah, both cars are purchased under the company.
But yeah, other than that, we have no debt.
Love, that's so sexy, especially from a business owner.
Sorry, $2 million in revenue
and you have no business debt.
Oh, that's so sexy.
No debt.
And I'm very impressive.
Are you proud of that?
I'm really proud.
And one of my strategies going into business was
that I didn't want to have a huge amount of debt to carry.
I wanted to slowly build the business.
And the sacrifice for that was that we depleted our savings
during that period of time because I wasn't able to pay myself
because I just reinvested everything back into the business
in the hope that it would pay off.
And it did.
But that meant that I wasn't carrying debt.
Which when I say we don't carry debt,
we have a company credit card
which we pay off every month and we utilize that.
But no significant debt.
No, that doesn't count.
Like don't get me wrong.
Like yes, I know a lot of people will be like,
well, that's bad debt.
But that's the same as us.
Like we have a business credit card
because I'm like, well, that for our business makes the most sense.
And it also from a security perspective,
like my team have that.
They can put their expenses on the credit card.
But no one has access to all of our business savings
if we get hacked or whatever.
I'd prefer it to be on a credit card.
Also points like all of that is very fun.
And then on top of that, it just gets paid off every month.
So it's just a cash flow strategy
rather than a debt strategy.
Exactly.
And look, I believe that the right debt can be good too.
I do too, but I'm scared of this.
Yes, it is scary.
It is scary.
But I'm also not opposed to going
if the right opportunity came my way.
And I needed to leverage debt to execute that opportunity.
I would definitely do it.
Yeah, agreed.
It'd have to be the right opportunity for me to do it.
You have worked so hard
and this is just also exciting.
But how are you protecting it?
Do you have personal insurances set up?
If so, how?
If not why?
So yes, I most certainly do have personal insurances
to protect myself and the business
to ensure it's future growth and longevity.
And also if the worst situation was to ever happen
and I was unable to work in the business.
So some of the insurances that I do have
from a personal perspective is obviously
my death and permanent disability,
which is insurance that's held and through my super fund.
So I have a phenomenal financial advisor
who makes sure that every year we touch base,
we review my insurance policies
in and around death and permanent disability.
I also have income protection insurance.
So in the event that I'm unable to generate an income
or something unfortunate was to happen
that my family had some protection
in and around the income coming into the family home.
And one of the other insurances
that I have been looking into lately,
I haven't yet taken out this policy,
but it's something I'm talking about with my broker
is in and around key man insurance.
And it was something that was foreign to me up until recently.
And key man insurance is something
that is in place for owners of larger businesses
who play a key part in the income generation of that business.
And if something unfortunate was to happen
in terms of if I was incapacitated in any way
that the income that I bring into the business,
there was some insurance in and around that.
So that's something that I'm looking at at the moment
to see if that will be of benefit to me personally
and to the business.
I love you are so switched on and at the very start,
you said, I'm an A- so girl, what's your best money habit?
I think I'm all over my numbers.
I can tell.
I eat, breathe, sleep.
This stuff, I watch my numbers daily.
Cash is king, as I mentioned before.
You know, I'm always looking at my cash flow projections,
you know, making sure I'm all over that.
Making sure the business is meeting its goals and expectations.
If we do have revenue, peaks and troughs,
am I prepared for those?
What do they look like?
My financial literacy I'd say is quite high.
Is it the best? Definitely not.
Have I got errors to improve? Absolutely.
But I'm pretty all over that.
Yeah, elite, I love that.
And then flip it.
Do you actually have a worst money habit?
I do. I've got a few.
Booking holidays on a whim would be one.
Okay, that's good. No, I love that for you.
Because I'm like, girl, you work so hard.
I'm not mad about this.
Yeah, probably not putting some thought processes
into booking holidays would be one.
And last minute, Christmas shopping.
I'm just, why am I the same as you?
I'm just the worst when it comes to that.
And then I overspend and I'm not prepared.
Every year, I say, I've got next year's going to be different.
Next year's going to be different.
And it's not. Every time. Every time.
No, but you know what I have done?
I now have a list in my phone.
And I've always had like a gift list,
but I made a specific Christmas list.
But I feel like that's a step in the right direction.
Yep. Well, well, look, you're part way there.
Which is good. I think I probably need to do the same.
I look now that you've said that,
maybe that's something that needs to go down
on the, on the goals list for this.
You don't need to probably write it down
to make sure that I hold myself accountable to that.
No, I love it. All right.
Now, final question I've got for you.
You said you're an A minus.
Why not an A plus?
What would it take for you to be an A plus direst?
Look, I think there's always capacity
to be better in every aspect of life.
I don't have all the answers all the time.
So I don't think I could be an A plus just yet.
Maybe upon retirement, when I'm sitting comfortably,
I can say, you know, like we did it, we've achieved it.
But yeah, I think, I think I'm an A minus
and I'm quite comfortable sitting there
for the time being always room to grow and develop.
That's a very good report card.
So I'm not mad about that.
I'm always just so pervy.
And the benefit of you being anonymous means I can ask anything.
And it's just so fun because if we'd run into each other in person
and I'd be like, oh, tell me about your business.
You'd be like, yeah, it's good.
And I'd be like, well, I wonder what a revenue is.
But I wouldn't have the balls to ask.
Oh, my God. No.
So thank you for that.
So I'll probably be able to share to anonymously
with people, because I know there's lots of women out there
that are probably sitting on the fence
about jumping into their own business,
whether, you know, insecurity showing up for them
or fear, but they don't quite make the leap.
Hopefully, sharing my story gives them the motivation
to be able to go, yeah, I can do it.
I can absolutely do it.
I could not agree more.
That is literally why the podcast exists.
So I'm like, guys, it's not out of reach.
It really isn't.
It does take some work.
It really does.
Yeah.
But it's not impossible.
Stories like this make me so excited.
And it also make me so sad, because I'm running out of time
and I can't ask more pervy questions.
But I just know that the community is going to love having
listened to this in the same way that I
loved getting the privilege of recording it.
So thank you so much for your time.
Thanks so much for your time.
Really nice to chat with you today.
You too.
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