Welcome to Day One

Born in Romania, Monica moved to Australia in two thousand and ten. Motivated by a need to mitigate the threat of climate change, and seeing the mass adoption of bicycles in parts of Europe, Monica is aiming to do more than build a successful business. With the lofty ambition of reshaping the way we think about transport in Australia, Monica has been working hundred hour plus weeks to build BYKKO as a proof of concept, with the hopes that an electric bike sharing model could be adopted by governments and used as part of integrated public transport systems. But before we dig into the details of how Monica believes electric bike sharing can change transport in Australia, first we need to go back to day one, and learn about the research Monica undertook which ultimately led her to believe that, as she says, "bikes are the future".

Today I'd like to share with you the story of Naomi Findlay. Naomi is a remarkably hard-working woman with a ridiculous amount of active projects, all of which aim to position her as Australia's queen of property renovation and home styling. She has a digital video series, Renovie, hosted on Youtube with nearly two hundred episodes and approaching two thousand subscribers. She has a blog and hosts a weekly podcast, Reno Radio. She has appeared on TV shows including Channel 9's Location Lifestyle Living and Channel 10's The Home Team. She created an app, Rapid Reno Mate, designed to make home renovation a breeze. She has designed and runs courses and workshops to assist people in many facets of renovating, styling and selling their home. And this is just the tip of the iceberg! The list goes on and on. Perhaps even more remarkable is that creating beautiful spaces was not the first career path Naomi chose for herself. In fact, Naomi is Dr Naomi Findlay PhD, and in a previous life worked for around 15 years in radiation oncology in Australia and around the world. To learn why Dr Findlay would completely overhaul her career in pursuit of a new life, first, we need to go back to day one, and hear the story of how two conversations with two mentor figures spaced a decade apart would end up sending Naomi down two very different paths.

Meet Melanie Mury from IMBY (In My Backyard). IMBY operates in the proptech space (Property Technology) and is working to consolidate the development application process or at least make it easier to navigate. Melanie started IMBY with her partner in life and business, Chris Mury. This isn't just a story about a business venture, this is a life story, one that started and changed forever when Melanie was 18 years old and decided to head overseas. Let's go back to day one where this story begins.

Today you're going to hear the story of Linda Bergskas and Visionise. Linda started Visionise, a full-service fashion branding service after she sold her own international fashion brand in search of a more balanced lifestyle. With such a successful career and a large network within the industry, Linda found herself constantly being asked for her expertise to help start and grow fashion brands.

In this episode guest host Andy Jones goes on a walking tour with Becky Kiil, founder of Newcastle Afoot, a top rated walking tour and cultural experiences business. On top of her already hectic work life, Becky is also volunteering her time as festival coordinator for Big Picture Fest Newcastle, a project which received over $120,000 in grant money to bring local and international mural artists to the city in October 2020. In this conversation Becky discusses the challenges of managing a work-life balance, and her love for the city which she now calls home.

This special episode of Welcome to Day One features James MacDonald from JM Recruitment. A Newcastle based recruitment business focused solely on the Tech sector. James believes that a good recruiter should now his patch intimately. James does just that through his meetup groups and podcast called Newy Tech People. Listen to James speak about how his business has been impacted and how he is taking this time to put himself and his business in a postion to really hit the ground running when we return to business as usual.

Joshua Freinberger started working at his parents restaurant after he finished school. He ended up managing the restaurant and that is where his interest in business started. While learning more and more about the ins and outs of operating a business Josh spent his spare time gaming with his friends, organising local tournaments using the name Gomez Vs Pedro. Over time those tournaments grew in popularity, eventually outgrowing the small shed they had been using for their gatherings and growing into what has today become GVP Esports.

Josh's story is coming on April 29th. Subscribe to the podcast now so you don't miss it. Search for Youngpreneur Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Tyler Regan started his business by accident, but what a ride it has been. After at the request of his teacher Tyler built a product that digitised his school's paper based rewards system. But after his school didn't want it, like any good entrepreneur Tyler saw an opportunity. Tyler rebuilt the product from the ground up and took it to market, approaching other schools in the region and has since brought on board a number of beta-customers helping to refine the product. Tyler is still in the early stages of his business, but his positive attitude and focus on creating a great product have put him in a great position, even winning an award in the Hunter Young Business Minds Awards.

Tyler's story is coming on April 22nd. Subscribe to the podcast now so you don't miss it. Search for Youngpreneur Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Jack Antcliff has always been a guy that makes things happen. From a very young age he has been involved in organising events. From local events right through to working on the International Children's Games. "We had an idea, we should host a movie night at the pool, a Dive In Theatre. And everyone at the time looked at us and went, "Yeah, good luck." And we just went, "No, we're going to make it happen." We were a group of young people who were just determined to see things through." - Jack Antcliff Listen in as Jack shares his story from when he was 13 and his time with the Lake Macquarie Youth Advisory Council to today where he is building his very own media production company.

Jack's story is coming on April 15th. Subscribe to get a dose of positivity from Jack that will last you the next year. Search for Youngpreneur Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hospitality has been hit hard, lots of people have lost their jobs. Your Food Collective are doing what they can to give locals employment and getting food to those that need it. I give Cara from Your Food Collective a call in this episode to hear what they've been up to.

Erin Wilson discovered her passion while she was still in university. However, it wasn't exactly what she had planned. Erin studied Exercise and Sports Science at University and after finishing her degree Erin didn't want to take the obvious career route and instead wanted to share her passion with those who were looking to make a positive change in their lives. 'At the end of my Exercise Science degree, I was just like, "Nope." And I was like, "This isn't what I wanted to do. This isn't where I want to go." I had a little crisis. And then I found this job working for Vision Personal Training in Gladesville.' -Erin Wilson Erin became a personal trainer and with a lot of hard work she was making a difference, but her passion began to turn into a grind and the numbers game of getting bums on seats, not being able to focus on achieving a quality outcome for her clients was beginning to take a toll. After needing to step away for a while, Erin returned and started her own gym, Urban Base Fitness, at 25 years old. Taking everything she had learnt she was able to build the right environment and focus on the outcomes that her clients wanted.

Daniel started his business not long before the 2008 financial crisis and his business grew through that period. So, Daniel is feeling pretty confident he'll be able to do the same through the challenges to come and it's all thanks to a positive attitude. •https://www.psyborg.com.au/