She's On The Money - How One Mum Turned a Job Loss Into a Multi-Million Dollar Comeback

Episode Date: March 22, 2026

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.  GET VICTORIA'S BUDGETING SYSTEM: Master your money here. NEW HERE?: Take our Money Personality Quiz and we will send you free resources based on how YOU actually manage money here.  Ready to binge more relatable, inspiring, and downright juicy money stories? Check out our ultimate Money Diaries playlist. Listen now Join our Facebook Group AKA the ultimate support network for money advice and inspiration. Ask questions, share tips, and celebrate your wins with a like-minded crew of 300,000+. And follow us on Instagram for Q&As, bite-sized tips, daily money inspo... and relatable money memes that just get you.  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 - 4451289See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My name is Natasha Bamblett, I'm a proud First Nations woman, and I'm here to acknowledge country. Ti, gilinyan ganya, nianakaka yao yinbina waka, nianakai nianbina yakarumja, duminyagumiga dumiga ithawaka nirawamundamun imalan. Mumu bangada boma ininyalan waka, gaunan yakarumja, wutunarana. Hello 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 habits for educational purposes, of course. Welcome 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 sounded 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 Diarist, 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 mum 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, granny flat? No, I'm sleeping in your bed. Yeah. No, she wanted to be in the house with the kids and the family and be in the thick of family life, which is beautiful in itself. 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 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 the 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. Always room for improvement. 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, a big focus on education for myself. And I always saw mum and dad being very astute with how they spent their money. 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. 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, or was that a tension point? No, a hundred percent. Yeah. Okay. Mom 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. 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 leapfrog 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 got to 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 finance. The way that you've been talking about this, I'm like, okay, I kind of picking up the vibes and I think everyone else is. I just really wanted to clarify. I'm 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 forties. 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 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 Roxy pencil case from the surf shop. Like what, what did that look like? Was there any like, I don't know, envy of your friends who had disposable income or? Definitely not. Mom 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 on 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, my friends definitely did have more resources available to them in terms of 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 rite of passage for a lot of people.

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 and how to provide exceptional customer service. I think that was founded 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 save for a house. 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 18 and I guess they'd 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. Again,

that came with responsibility. So, I had to learn really quickly how to take care of a yard, I'd mow the lawns, make sure I had enough money for food and the house was clean. It definitely taught me a lot. You kind of quote 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. 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. Yeah. So, I will preface that too. Mom 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, 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. Okay. So $10,000 from mum and dad and then $30,000 on your own that you saved with entry-level jobs in 12 months. 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 up had 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 hit me up. Yeah, definitely. You and 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, 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, you know, I chopped and changed a few jobs during that time. And finally sort of worked my way up into lower level management by my mid-20s, probably 25, 26. Got 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 at around 25 or 26, I can't remember exactly, but I think I was sitting somewhere around the 65K per annum. And that's pretty good because that's back, what, 2007, 2008? Yeah, 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'd put petrol in my car, did my groceries, paid the bills, paid the mortgage, squirreled the money away for rego and 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 uh Emma what are you doing today and then Emma says oh I'm going out for drinks with the girls and you go

have fun like it's just it's not great but you also need to zoom out and be like oh bigger picture I'm doing pretty all right 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 I was about to say, like, I won't call you highly strung, 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 at 19. Yes, you were like, oh, thanks, mum 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 on your own. Fantastic. I would say that your parents 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 bougie office management role I'm like

hello so um yeah I had a lot more fun in my 20s and I regret some of these things but also where's the fun babe 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 like zoom forward. You're 26, office manager role, 65 grand. It's 2007. When did you move into this like corporate management role where you were earning six figures? That happened in my late twenties. 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's around 120. Yeah wow and that is especially in now I'm keeping track 2010 a lot of money so 120k bougie what what do you mean travel so you're like going around the country around the world or? Around the country working with on a large government contract even though it was a private

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 carry through with me today. Love. And so I've just heard the journey from basically 18 to 29, 30. 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 it takes two to tango 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 2014 oh my goodness so you've been working at this like national rev manager role for a few years and then ended up pregnant that is so special talk to 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 it was a 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 it was challenging but I loved it I was still very lit up by my role but there 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 yeah, set me up with my own office, which stopped the travel. And I did that

for another couple of years until that flicked 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. 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 ten and that's definitely how my life felt. Oh 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 you know two young children still working at a you know in a very senior role within an organization all of the pressures that came

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 night to find that balance which was awesome but having the two kids and 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're 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 she's earning more you should see her face it's funny when um when my old 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 so good he met me at the salary I was on I didn't get an increase but he met me at that same 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 it was 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 his empire of companies I can't delve too much into what happened there No, but it wasn't like you came to work one day and he was like, money, Doris, 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 set of events that transpired there. Thankfully, none of them were due to financial mismanagement or anything like that. It was a very astute businessman, just made some poor decisions.

So I'm going to ask you about that offline. Yeah, you can ask me offline 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 goss.

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. are 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. So, you don't even have kids that are in school and you've got all this extra time. You're basically still in toddler and kinder mode. Yeah, definitely. Definitely. They're

both in daycare. She's crazy. I love 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 you know my world came crashing down with my previous job and I remember saying to my husband I was like will you back me if I go out on my own. If he said no grounds for divorce so yeah good I'm 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? Oh, love. And I like 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. 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 were 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, and 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, you know, getting in front of the right people and thankfully the country town that, you know, 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 earned 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. Yeah. And the other business is a debt collection business. 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? 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. And if you assign those same principles to collecting money, you will often be quite successful.

You're a 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'm going to call you. Yeah, sure. Please do. Love to help. So, tell me now, what type of revenue and like employee headcount are we looking at? You said you've like, I 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 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. 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. And I'll go, Oh, okay. 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. Agreed. 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 doesn't. Yeah, true. A leader shows people by being with them and working with them, not sitting above them and quote leading. 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 want 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 hexy 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. They're crazy. I did not realize how astronomical school fees have gotten. I had the privilege of going to a Catholic school. So it was definitely not a full private school, but it was Catholic. So it was kind of like that in between, I suppose. And I really, really valued that. But it's one of those funny things where people are like, public

education is great. And I go, that's fantastic. But I didn't have that experience. 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 in retrospect and go those things that I learned through school are the values that are now been instilled in me as an adult woman 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 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? But you've got businesses. You're not coming across as the kind of gal that wants to hang her boots up yet. No, I'm 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 backseat, maybe sit on some not-for-profit boards or do something with my time where 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 he does what would you say is like your combined family income now uh so we're over 250 okay so very comfy yeah look we don't pay ourselves that's why I was asking combined I'm like I know that people are going to recognize your voice in your business I was like just tell me what like combined like 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 varies year to year too. 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 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 accountant 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, going to 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 wads of hundred dollar 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. That was a stressful period of time for us financially. So it's 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 uh 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 love get into one of the big city centers which we're 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. And 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. 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 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 chef 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. If you don't have your finger on the pulse and for me, an additional third party checking in and going, hey, V, have we thought about this, this and this? I just leave it to the wayside and we've just started having conversations about superannuation that I obviously know what I'm talking about, but they're like, V, I think that we should be pumping a bit more in here now

and basically making, hey, well, the sun's shining, it's more tax effective, 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 we're minimising our tax. We'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 into a new family home, which has been really, really exciting. Congrats. How fun. We're 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, Mark.

I was about to be like, tell me you've got that in your business. Like, don't get me 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. Same. 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 proud. Yeah, impressive. Are you proud of that? 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 like 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 oh I do too but I'm scared of it yes it is 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 all so 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 its 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 under 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 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 minus. So girl, what's your best money habit? I think I'm all over my numbers. I can tell. Like I eat, breathe, sleep. This stuff, I watch my numbers daily. Cash is king, as I mentioned before. I'm always looking at my cash

flow projections, 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 areas 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? I'm 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, next year is going to be different, next year is going to be different and it's not. It's every time. Every time. No, but do 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, look, you're partway there, which is good. I think I probably need to do the same. Look, now that you've said that, maybe that's something that needs to go down on the

goals list for this year. I need to probably write it down to make sure that I hold myself accountable to it. 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 diarist? 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, yeah. And you're like, we did it. We've achieved it. But yeah, 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 her revenue is, but I wouldn't have the balls to ask. Oh my God, no. So, thank you for that. It's lovely to be able to share too 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 that 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. I'm like, guys, it's not out of reach. It really isn't.

It does take some work. it really does. But it's not impossible. Stories like this make me so excited. And it also makes 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. the advice shared on she's on the money is general in nature and does not consider your

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