The Lazy CEO Podcast with Jane Lu

My very special guest for this episode is none other than my co-bitch Gen George! Yes, my co-founder for Like Minded Bitches Drinking Wine. In case you missed it, it’s a women’s business group that we started 10 years ago as a passion project that’s now grown to over 180,000 members. The group is on Facebook and the Boa app if you want to join us, but also very excitingly we’re kicking off in-person events again, with Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to start.Okay now a bit more about Gen, because she is one hell of a serial entrepreneur. At the age of X, Gen started OneShift, which was an online talent marketplace that instantly connects local candidates to local businesses. Gen grew OneShift to over 40k employers and 700k potential candidates and achieved a valuation of $20m in their first year alone. 5 years ago, the business was successfully acquired. The process of growing OneShift allowed her to see a clear market gap which led to her launching Tamme - a marketing AI and analytics platform for two-sided marketplaces.In 2019, Gen established Genry Capital, which is focused on companies in manufacturing, research and development, logistics and the consumer brand space.In 2020, she established Australian Private Label, which develops and manufactures products for brands, musicians and influencers locally in Australia. APL has already grown to a 7 figure business and is growing at 35% year on year. And yes… There's more, in 2023 she launched Daily Shake, which is a premium supplements brand that is known for its fun unique flavours. Launched only a year ago, the brand is already rolling out into Coles and Mr Vitamins in Australia, and later this year launching with a Middle Eastern retailer that has 6000 points of sale. She's just incredible!! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My next guest is Kirsten Carriol, the founder of Lanolips, a lanolin lip balm and beauty brand that started as a niche brand, then quickly rose to becoming a cult brand that was winning all the awards and talked about by every beauty editor and blog to then becoming an iconic brand that’s a household name. Lanolips is now an 8-figure company that even after 15 years of business is experiencing 30% year on year growth. They’re now in over 30 countries and over 4,000 stores.Kirsten previously owned a PR agency and we talk about how she used PR and comms to educate and create a market for lanolin products. We also talk about the, what she called, “messy middle” parts of a business - which I love as not many people talk so openly about this. And we chat about her experience in getting funding and the impact on the business. @lanolips@kirsten.carriol Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My next guest is a good friend of mine, Matt Newell, the Founder and CEO of the creative agency The General Store. The General Stores provides creative marketing solutions for retailers in brand identity, advertising, tech and store design. Their impressive client list includes the likes of Rebel Sport, Coles, Optus, Freedom and Salvo Stores and they’ve won a shit ton of awards like Best Design in Australia, Best Store Design globally and Best Specialist Agency. In this episode we start with how he started his own agency, how he grew it and built such a formidable client base, and then we really get into the marketing and branding side of things, like- how to approach choosing the right marketing mix and how to approach offline and experiential marketing. This is seriously one of the best chats - you won’t want to miss this, let’s get into it!  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My next guest Dorothy Lee is the previous owner of two AMAZING restaurants Hartsyard in Newtown and Longshore in Chippendale, the latter of which she has been awarded a Chef’s Hat for. So excited In this episode as you probably know, she’s my first guest in the restaurant in industry, so we go all into how the heck do you open a restaurant, how she bought and rebranded her first restaurant, and how has she found success in back to back restaurants when the hospitality industry is notorious for small businesses failing in their first year. Super fun and informative chat! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you've ever wanted to know who the PR machine is behind many of the brands I’ve had on the podcast like SWIISH, Naked Sundays, Bangn Body, tbh skincare, Peppermint Grove and more… then keep listening.Today's guest Jessy Marshall founded Hive HQ in 2018 after starting it from the bedroom floor of her share house. The now 7 figure business has a team of bees who work on some of Australia's biggest brands.In this episode, Jessy and I discuss how she got into PR - it’s actually a super interesting story of how we met and how that played a part in her starting her amazing agency, we also talk about the amazing activations Hive has executed, how she got her clients on the kardashians, the journey that brought her to where she is today and all about how to use PR to grow your brand and your business. Always love chatting with Jessy and I’m sure you’ll love this episode!@hq.hive@jessymarshall@thelazyceo_podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today I chat with Anaita Sarkar, founder of Hero Packaging and better known on socials as @sellanythingonline. If you're a long time listener, you'll know that Anaita came on the poddy last year - and well, I loved it so much I had to get her back! Absolutely loved hearing what she's gotten up to since she was in the studio last - including writing a book, developing courses and starting a podcast.We covered all things marketing - with a specific focus on paid ads. It's so interesting to hear Anaita's stance on digital marketing agencies and I love how she's wanting to help her followers learn it themselves. So many amazing tips in this episode! I'm sure you'll love it! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My next guest is the founder of two iconic consumer brands - The Daily Edited and In The Roundhouse. The Daily Edited started as a blog in 2001, but then pivoted into an accessories brand that since has grown to 8 figures and dominated the personalisation space in Australia. Alyce has subsequently sold her stake in the business to her co-founder. She then went to a role working on strategy for LTK, one of the world’s largest influencer marketing platforms. She couldn’t shake off the entrepreneurial bug and started in the the roundhouse, a very on-trend conversational-print focused dinnerware brand. This side hustle soon grew to a multi-million dollar business! It’s so incredibly impressive how Alyce has been able to build two very well-known consumer brands and how both started as side hustles. We talk about the importance of product development alongside the marketing strategies and tactics that grew these businesses, and more specifically the importance of influencer marketing.@alyce_tran@intheroundhouse@thedailyedited@thelazyceo_podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today’s guest is the founder of YCL Jewels, Fabienne Costa. A jewellery brand that started with no money and Fabienne hand making everything herself to now being a 7 figure business!In this episode, we talk about how she grew her brand in a highly competitive and crowded market despite no business or design experience, and about why creating customer-centred designs is essential and how one product alone made them nearly $700,000k in one year. I in particular loved hearing about her journey of going from only selling a handful of products a month, to reaching a milestone of her first $500 day, which was her first hint of external validation for the business, to now having $120,000 days! @ycl@fabienne.ycl@thelazyceo_podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My next guest is a model turned serial entrepreneur, it’s Taryn Williams, the founder of Wink Models, the Right Fit and #gifted.Taryn started Wink Models 17 years ago when she saw clear gaps in the market and has grown it to a multi-million dollar business.As the market shifted, she grew with it and founded The Right Fit - a marketplace that connects brands with influencers. The Right Fit has raised 2 rounds of venture capital of over $2m and has scaled to 17,000 talent and 11,000 clients. Last year, Taryn successfully sold and exited the business.Then it didn’t take long before she was onto her next thing - #gifted - an influencer to brand platform specialising on gifting only. which already has over 5000 creators and 2500 brands in just 6 short months. In this episode, we talk about how she grew these businesses, but also for content creators and influencers, how to grow your account and how to monetise better so you can make your side hustle your main hustle. And for business owners, how to better leverage content creators and influencers to build your brand and grow your business. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey poddy fam! A huge thank you for listening to me talk for a year 😂. It's been so much fun chatting with the incredible guests we've had and I can't wait to continue to meet new people that you'll enjoy listening to. In todays special episode - my assistant (and poddy producer) Kaitlyn and I go through questions I've been asked on IG. Let us know if you want more ask me anythings in the future!! Love, Jane x@thelazyceo@thelazyceo_podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.