“Making business decisions might be scary, but it is empowering to know that when I make those choices, I stand by me and I back myself.” – Kara Breadmore
“Everything starts at the top. If you are not looking after you, as number 1, then you will never be able to operate a business the best that you possibly can. I make a conscious effort now to always make time for myself every day. I don’t nail it every day, but I am so much better now than I used to be. Going for a walk and taking 15 minutes to myself is an investment back in my business.” – Kara Breadmore
“Do more. I’m not slowing down; I’m quadrupling everything we are doing.” – Mini Latif
“There is nothing more powerful than being a single woman without a kid. You are the most powerful person in the room because that is someone who has a lot of energy.” – Mini Latif
“We have invested tens of thousands of dollars in social media and we’re dumbfounded by it. We decided not to be distracted by it.” – Mini Latif
“Social media is not what made the brand last the last 10 years. Our social media is there, we work on it, but we try not to be distracted by it.” – Mini Latif
“We are so lucky to live in a country where as woman we have a choice where we can wake up and say, “I want to start a business today,” and, “I want to own a business today.” That choice, that freedom, to make that decision is so incredibly powerful and we are so lucky.” – Kara Breadmore
“For me “making it” is freedom. The freedom in my future to know that I can go left or I can go right and there is nothing stopping me and that there are no blocks. It’s financial in a sense, I’ve got enough money, if I decide to go to Zimbabwe tomorrow, I’m going. No one can tell me otherwise. The reality is you do lose your freedom to a huge extent when you become an entrepreneur but you also gain freedom in other aspects.” – Mini Latif
With thanks to
Mini Latif is the Founder of Ottoman3. In this podcast, she reveals that as a 7-year-old she thought everybody grew up to run a business. At that age, she also came up with the original concept for Ottoman3.
Kara Breadmore is the Founder of Ka’llure Jewellery. It was Jewellery that found Kara and became her passion. Kara explains how her business is not about making shiny things, but telling the stories of her clients.
About Masters Series by WeTeachMe
Masters Series is a show about inspiring entrepreneurs, creative thinkers, and visionary dreamers, and the stories behind how they built their companies.
“Make that investment in yourself. The more you level up and invest in your knowledge and mindset, the faster you can grow your company. The growth of your company is a reflection of you as a founder; of how much you know and of how much you’re learning.” – Nathan Chan
“Be consistent with your content [in one channel]. Then move on to the next [channel]. One at a time. Be relentless on mastering one channel [at a time].” – Nathan Chan
“Data comes first. When looking at your data, numbers don’t lie. Test based on your gut instinct but data at the end of the day is critical.” – Stephen Esketzis
“Digital marketing comes down to 3 things: (1) Having the right offer. It’s got to be a high converting offer that resonates with your audience. Make it an irresistible offer; (2) Target customers. Be crystal clear on are your target customers are and how you will be reaching them. Because if you have the best offer but the wrong target market, they will not respond; and (3) The messaging of your copy. If you have the right offer and the right target customer but your copy misses, then they will not take action. It will be a dead campaign.” – Stephen Esketzis
“Your network is your net-worth. If everything went to shit and you lose your business, your network is what will to stay with you. Having a strong reputation and nailing the relationships game is more powerful than anything else. Marketing platforms will change. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram might be gone tomorrow; this stuff comes and goes like the wind. The network is what’s going to stay.” – Stephen Esketzis
“At the start of every year, I say to myself, “I am going to have a good stab at these goals. I’m gonna give it a good, hard crack for the next 12 months and see what happens.” – Nathan Chan
“I remind myself, “I could be this close but if I give up now, that’s it. It is definitely over.” Keep mentally reminding yourself. You could be one campaign away in making something work. Same with business. You could be one opportunity away, or one person away, in turning your business around.” – Stephen Esketzis
With thanks to
Nathan Chan is the Founder of Foundr, the magazine that profiles entrepreneurs. Nathan started Foundr at the top by interviewing Sir Richard Branson – he then gave away that copy of the magazine to supercharge the Foundr brand. Since then he’s interviewed Arianna Huffington, Mark Cuban, Seth Godin, Tim Ferriss and he shares their insights and his own in this brand building masterclass.
Stephen Esketzis is the marketing funnel mastermind and Founder of Digital Marketers Australia. He launched his first business straight out of high school with the Meggle App which hooked people up with their nearest bar or nightclub. Building a 10,000 strong network for the app took Stephen deep into the world of digital marketing. Today he builds marketing funnels for businesses of all shapes and sizes.
About Masters Series by WeTeachMe
Masters Series is a show about inspiring entrepreneurs, creative thinkers, and visionary dreamers, and the stories behind how they built their companies.
“Culture isn’t about one certain element. It is not about having a cool space. I’ve worked with businesses with basketball courts, foosball tables, and drinks every Friday night. No one element creates culture and you cannot fabricate it. If you do not have the right people, the right leadership, and a clear vision, it doesn’t matter how cool you got in the business. These other things are like cherries on top of that which creates culture.” – Lisa Spiden
“The fact that you have a business and that you have staff, you’ve got culture. Whether it is a good or a bad culture, you still have a culture that exists. You constantly monitoring and making sure it is where you want it to be. The core thing that influence culture is leadership.” – Lisa Spiden
“Choose a model. Choose an idea. Choose something to fall on. I don’t have all the answers. I never have. I never will. But other people have done it. If someone has done it before, learn from them, grow from them.” – Tristan White
“I had an interview with Emma Isaacs and I asked her, “What is the one piece of advice you wish you known a long time ago?” She said, “Believe in myself.” As I reflect on that conversation, I think about my own journey, that is one thing that I haven’t done. Believe in yourself. challenge yourself. Learn, grow, stretch, rest, and then do it all again.” – Tristan White
“Have amazing people around you that you can bounce ideas off; like mentors, and people you trust that can help guide you. It helps keep you sane.” – Lisa Spiden
“Recruitment is a dating process. We will try to decide if we want to spend more time with people. The first date moves on to a longer second date and to another date. And if things go well? You get married and you start working together.” – Tristan White
“There are so many things we can learn, and it’ll be great learn them all in advance, but know where you are in that moment in time. Know the biggest challenge or the biggest bottleneck, dive into it head on, and then deal with it before moving on to the next challenge.” – Tristan White
“If you want to reach out to someone who has commercial experience that you’ve either seen, know, or know that you will gain valuable experience from them, be straightforward. One sentence is great. Say, “I love your work. I’ve got a specific question. I’d like to ask you about X. Can I please have a small amount of your time?” – Tristan White
With thanks to
Tristan White founded The Physio Co in 2004. 5 years later he had 20 employees and what he calls a great big mess. After addressing his organisation’s culture, Tristan has grown from 20 to 150 happy, engaged and enthusiastic employees in less than a decade.
Lisa Spiden is the Founder and Managing Director of fibreHR and Roster Right. Working in HR in London and Australia, across banking, fast-moving consumer goods, IT and communication, Lisa has seen the best and worst of cultures. With a great culture comes discretionary effort from employees, which Lisa says is the best way for your business to set itself apart from the competition.
About Masters Series by WeTeachMe
Masters Series is a show about inspiring entrepreneurs, creative thinkers, and visionary dreamers, and the stories behind how they built their companies.
“After I launched my business online, I started selling cupcakes at the markets. I set my market-selling date before I registered my home kitchen because I knew that if I set a date, and put down a deposit to sell at a farmers’ market, I would be pushed to tick off all the tasks on my list: (1) create the product line; (2) create the flavours; (3) create a menu; (4) register a business name; and (5) get the food registration, etc. I wanted to work backward with a timeline. If you have a goal and you don’t have set a date, you tend to let things drag it on. That’s how I made myself accountable for making my business work.” – Sheryl Thai
“I started thinking about how other entrepreneurs work because I didn’t feel like an entrepreneur. I didn’t think I was an entrepreneur. I knew that I had a “small business owner” mindset because I wanted to do everything and didn’t want to delegate. That realisation was a defining moment. There was a time when I was so tired, I was taking cupcakes out of the oven, and my arms couldn’t live the trays because of how heavy they were. I remember dropping them and I broke down and ran off to the cupboard upstairs. I locked myself in there and cried for an hour. I needed to change and figure out how to be an entrepreneur. That’s when I started finding other people that was doing what I wanted to do and started learning from them.” – Sheryl Thai
“I picked up the phone, called up a law firm, and said, “Hi! I can build websites for you.” The lawyer said, “No. You can’t. Good luck.” He hung up on me. I was crushed. After that, I felt like I was a terrible salesperson for a very long time. When I consider sales with WeTeachMe, I find that WeTeachMe touches on who I am and my core values, so I don’t really need to “sell it”. I talk about the “why”. Why am I passionate about WeTeachMe? Why am I passionate about learning? Why am I passionate about education? And why did I start WeTeachMe? I found that our first 100 customers bought into me.” – Kym Huynh
“One of the most exciting things about starting your own business is that you get to create the world as you see it. You get to instill it with the values that are important to you. And you get to fill it with people who align with your values.” – Kym Huynh
“Our decisions on who we hire, celebrate, or fire is based on values. When your values are clear and simple, they provide a framework for people to make decisions; what to do, and what not to do.” – Kym Huynh
“Our lives are so short. Things can happen through no fault of our own. We might be at the wrong place at the wrong time. I do not want to spend an iota of time doing something unless I am incredibly passionate about it.” – Kym Huynh
“I believe in this idea that learning is something that you carry with you for the rest of your life, and it’s one of those things that no one can ever take away from you without your consent. In life you can lose your job, your house, the clothes on your back, but you will never lose the knowledge in your head, and with that knowledge you can always start again.” – Kym Huynh
“The one you want to listen to is the one that has achieved you want want to achieve. I say to this person, “Teach me everything you know. I’m going to sit, I’m going to absorb, and I’m going to be willing student.” – Kym Huynh
“With goal setting, the most amazing thing is when I have clarity in my 10 years goals, and break that down into years 5, 3 and 1. I started achieving my 3 year goal in 1, 5 year goals in 3, and 10 year goals in 5. Every year I reset the 10-5-3-1. It’s this incredible accelerated pace of achieving goals.” – Kym Huynh
“Sometimes you can be your own mentor by reading. I love reading. I listen to podcasts nearly every day. It’s about continual growth. I ask a lot of people what they listen to and what they read. I believe that success leaves clues and so you find people that have done it or created something that you want to create, and you can learn from them. It’s a shortcut.” – Sheryl Thai
“Before I was made redundant, I had already starting little things on the side and baking cupcakes for friends and family. When starting a business, sacrificing your Friday nights is just one of those things that you have to live with. I was at home and waking up and thinking about my business way past midnight. Weekends were dedicated to improving my baking skills and to learning as much as possible. I did for that a good year before I was made redundant at my job.” – Sheryl Thai
“There really is no concept of “full time”. It’s all encompassing. It’s all I think about, all the time; from the moment I wake up to the moment I fall asleep. It’s not segmented 9-5 5 days per week. It’s just… life. Life melts into this big cacophony of everything.” – Kym Huynh
“The days are long and the years are short.” – Kym Huynh
“What’s really helped me is realising that a lot of entrepreneurs go through the same thing.” – Sheryl Thai
“The bigger my businesses is, the more money I make, and the bigger my challenges are. For me, I now see my challenges as a privilege to deal with them because it means that I’m growing. The challenge is a learning for me.” – Sheryl Thai
With thanks to
Sheryl Thai founded Cupcake Central (and League of Extraordinary Women) because guess what – she loves cupcakes! Her passion has risen out of her kitchen to 5 store locations across Melbourne with millions of cupcakes served and just as many diets broken! Sheryl describes how she discovered her passion and what she did to be able to enjoy the sweet taste of success.
Kym Huynh is a Founder at WeTeachMe and the driving force behind Masters Series. Kym discovered his passion for teaching after a bad car accident prompted him to think about what was important to him in this life. He’s now planning to turn his passion into the world’s biggest school without campuses.
About Masters Series by WeTeachMe
Masters Series is a show about inspiring entrepreneurs, creative thinkers, and visionary dreamers, and the stories behind how they built their companies.
“I’ve had a number of competitors approach me to buy me out and I just think, “I prefer to compete with you. I believe in where I’m going and what I’m doing, and I believe in our capabilities and our capacity.” If I was 65, 70 or 80… maybe… but running my own show and owning the decisions I make gets me out of bed. It’s on me.” – Jamie Lingham
“I’m thankful for every single aspect of all the things that happened because it taught me so much. For example, you trust the people you have, and I’m not saying you can’t trust people, but put systems and processes in place so you can check things. Have robust systems with redundancies in place so that if something goes wrong you’re alerted quickly.” – Jamie Lingham
“I ended up spending a week in hospital burned out at the age of 31. I’ve never ever worked those sort of hours again. I choose not to. The business is a vehicle to fund the lifestyle that I want to create for me and my kids.” – Graham Van Damme
“Find a mentor. Find someone who has grey hair. Who has done it before. Learn from their experiences. The learning curve is vertical. There are people out there prepared to share their time. Take them for lunch. Take them for coffee. Leverage off their lessons.” – Graham Van Damme
“Put 10% away. Pay yourself first. Fight to protect that facility. Put 10% away no matter what.” – Jamie Lingham
With thanks to
Jamie Langham is the CEO of Absolute Immigration who help businesses and individuals migrate successfully. Jamie’s business in Melbourne was going well in 2008, so he decided to put on a General Manager, and expand into Brisbane with an office and three staff. The GFC peaked a week later, but that wasn’t the only challenge the universe had in store for him.
Graham Van Damme is the Managing Director of Jag Capital. As a mining engineer, he bought into the business he was working for and began growing profits immediately. In 2008 he sold the business to private equity with the promise of even more ongoing profits. When the GFC hit a few months later, he realised his promise could be a little challenging to deliver!
About Masters Series by WeTeachMe
Masters Series is a show about inspiring entrepreneurs, creative thinkers, and visionary dreamers, and the stories behind how they built their companies.
My life goal is to make a lastÂing and posÂiÂtive conÂtriÂbuÂtion to this world by always lisÂtenÂing, always learnÂing and helpÂing peoÂple reach out and touch and inspire the lives of othÂers from all corÂners of the globe. Continue reading biography.
