It’s not every day that a successful quantum physicist decides to pack it all in and launch an online hearing aid business, but that’s exactly what Dr. Elaine Saunders did. Not only is Blamey Saunders hears the only custom fitted online hearing aid business out there – it has bucked a heap of business trends in the process. In my chat with Elaine, she shares a tonne of marketing GOLD from how to get television exposure from day one, through to the benefits of keeping chummy with a tight network of journalists. Let’s get stuck into it, small business owners.

Have you ever wondered what became of the television personalities that you loved from the decades gone by? Well, if they were anything like David Reyne, host of Getaway, The Morning Show, and actor on The Flying Doctors, they would have become entrepreneurial Real Estate experts. Now David works for successful real estate firm Aqua Real Estate, and shares his many learnings about his time in the business in this episode. If you have fear about changing your career path or you doubt your own entrepreneurial spirit, David has some golden words for you. Get listening!

If somebody is the living embodiment of “Feel the fear and do it anyway” it’s Karen Jacobsen. The voice of the world’s most famous text-to-speech recognition program, Apple’s Siri and in-car navigation device TomTom, as well as the founder of her own personal development brand at The GPS Girl, you would never believe that Karen has had to overcome personal anxiety issues and significant debt to get to where she is today.

Karen has certainly reached her destination and she shares exactly how in this episode.

PLUS, I reveal more details about the LIVE 200th episode. Let’s get started, shall we?

This extra special podcast episode is brought to you from the Westpac Business Innovation Forum, where I was not only joined by two of my favourite business owners but by a live audience! Podcast 190 sees the return of Miss Chu, the undisputed Queen of rice paper rolls, and Braaap’s Brad Smith, a fiercely motivated entrepreneur who has changed the landscape of Australian motorcycle manufacturing.

In this episode, we tackle tough audience queries from how to inject a sense of fun into a legal practice through to what it takes to overcome business failures. Let’s get started!

Gerry Ryan is not just a business owner. He is a bonafide *gazillionaire* who has successfully built the most successful caravan manufacturing company in Australia and New Zealand, Jayco – completely from scratch. On top of this, he has produced major theatre productions, launched a successful property development business, and even part owns a Melbourne Cup winning horse. Gerry shares his secrets to success in this latest episode…

At the age of 31, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Leigh Storr, the founder of a solar panel installation company, BioSolar, is just starting out in the world of entrepreneurship and small business. In fact, this week’s interviewee has been identifying lucrative business opportunities from the age of just 14.

His latest venture, BioSolar, has one important difference – it uses 100% door-to-door sales and marketing. Leigh really demonstrates that your business doesn’t have to fit the typical mould and with a little outside-the-box thinking, you can create a small business that makes a big impact. Let’s get into it!

In my chat with Tahir Baig, co-founder of customisable prams retailer Rozibaby, he reveals how he overcame his risk-averse nature to become a successful start-up business founder, how customisation has allowed Rozibaby to own a playful and exciting point of difference, and just how important publicity (including a nail biting TV audition) has been for Rozibaby right from its launch.

I also announce the winner of the Cactus Skincare competition and share some great news from inside the Small Business Big Marketing Forum. Listen up …

Every business has a story, but how often does a business idea emerge from escaping a dictatorship and surviving a refugee camp? That’s exactly what happened when Nahji Chu launched her Vietnamese tuck shops back in 2008. But this week’s podcast is no pity party. In fact, my chat with Nahji perfectly showcases how she injected her fun spirit and passion for Vietnamese culture into misschu, creating a fast food business that breaks the mould. Listen up …

Cactus Skincare’s Ryan Clark wasn’t tight with the in crowd at school. But things changed once he decided to assist his mum relaunch her fledgling skincare brand. He sought training in body language, speech therapy and socialite (yep socialite) psychology; started to attend all the right events and managed to seed some of the most beautiful women in Australia. That last bit sounds wrong, but it’s exactly what he did! Listen up …