First published in 2020 by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd 42 McDougall St, Milton Qld 4064
Office also in Melbourne
© Allis Investments Pty Ltd 2020
The moral rights of the author have been asserted
ISBN: 978-0-730-38454-0
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 (for example, a fair dealing for the purposes of study, research, criticism or review), no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, communicated or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written permission. All inquiries should be made to the publisher at the address above.
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Disclaimer
The material in this publication is of the nature of general comment only, and does not represent professional advice. It is not intended to provide specific guidance for particular circumstances and it should not be relied on as the basis for any decision to take action or not take action on any matter which it covers. Readers should obtain professional advice where appropriate, before making any such decision. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the author and publisher disclaim all responsibility and liability to any person, arising directly or indirectly from any person taking or not taking action based on the information in this publication.
I have to start with my husband, Jeff, without whose passion, drive, support, encouragement and love I would not be the person I am today. My children, Samuel, Oliver, Riley and Tahlia, all who have sacrificed many things for their mother’s dream. They are my true success story. My mother, Joan, who always is there when I need her. My girlfriend Amy, who spent hours of our yoga retreat editing and giving me suggestions for the book — not very Omm, but fun none the less. I am so lucky to be surrounded by the most amazing family and friends. That is true success.
100 per cent of my author profits will be donated to Australia for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (Australia for UNHCR).
Competing on Australian Survivor gave me first-hand experience of what it is like to be cold without proper shelter and so hungry that it hurt. I was in a position where I knew this would eventually end but there are millions of displaced people in the world that suffer this every single day with no end in sight.
By reading this book I hope that you are inspired to follow your passion and take advantage of all the privileges we have, in turn your purchase will contribute to helping a refugee woman and her family increase their chances of a better life.
Over 70 million people in the world are refugees with a vast majority being women who have fled to protect themselves and their families and keep their communities together. With the recent introduction of the Leading Women Fund, Australia for UNHCR are helping women gain financial independence and creating bright futures for themselves and their families.
For more information please visit: www.unrefugees.org.au/women
A few years ago I was playing cards with my gran, who at the time was 93. She was telling me what it was like to be a woman of the 1940s. She told me when World War II started most of the men left to fight, and she and her friends started working in an ammunition factory. It made me think about what an unusual time it must have been — when life as you know it suddenly turns upside down, your husband leaves you for five years and you have to survive by working in a factory. She started to make her own money and felt the freedom that this brings, only to be told to get ‘back in her box’ when the men came home. To think at that time she was not allowed to work or have a loan in her name seems unbelievable today.
In her time, women were not the bosses and certainly did not run businesses. In her mind, what man would even listen to a woman in the workforce? She constantly told my mother not to ‘get above herself’. For her, a woman had very little to no real power, even in her own home. It took my gran years to understand that at Boost, I (her granddaughter, not her grandson-in-law) was running the business. She couldn’t get her head around a woman boss — that was not what girls did in her day. ‘Why would they even listen to Janine?’ she would ask. Funny enough, it took a Herald Sun article for her to believe that I had actually started Boost (clearly only what you read in the paper is true). This wasn’t popular belief from 100 years ago; this was my gran, only two generations away. Thankfully times have changed.
For me, life is a marathon, not a sprint. Mind you, it took me years to realise this. When I was younger I wanted everything now. (Sound familiar?) I did not have a patient bone in my body. I am getting better at this, as I love the journey that I am on and appreciate every day.
If you are picking up this book for the first time, here is what you are in for …
The first thing is that you will not be blown away by my literary skills. Like singing and painting, I have no talent in this area. But what you will read is my honest account, warts and all, of my journey to date. I go into detail about the craziest thing I ever said ‘yes’ to, which was Survivor , and, finally, I share with you all the things I wish I had known before I went into business.
The great thing about getting older (because there are a lot of negatives and you have to see the positives) is that you get to embrace who you are, as you see all aspects of your journey. What I hope is that people see that it’s okay to not get everything right in life. You don’t always have to be happy with the decisions that you make. And, yes, you are very dumb when you are younger but, if you’re lucky, this enables you to have adventures that you wouldn’t have had otherwise — because you aren’t as stupid as when you did all those crazy, mad things!
Often people are afraid to make mistakes — they live a life half-lived because of it. This story is my journey — from an ordinary girl raised in the ’burbs, to marrying my soulmate Jeff, starting Boost Juice and Retail Zoo, becoming a Shark on the TV show Shark Tank and learning to ‘survive’ on Survivor .
Most recently, I have also become an ambassador with Australia for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) where I am thrilled to be travelling to Jordan to learn first-hand how the Leading Women Fund will be utilised and I hope to create increased awareness about the fund and the agency in general.
For all those people who have given me feedback on the first and second editions of this book — thank you! I was surprised and delighted by the impact that this book has made on people’s businesses and lives. I’m happy to say that the book is a bestseller; my English teacher from high school will honestly never believe it!
What is different in this book is it brings my story, and the story of Boost, into the present day — including some of the experiences I’ve had on Shark Tank and Survivor . This book is full of my lessons; these are the heart of what I believe you need to do to be a success in business and life. Success is not just money in the bank: it’s having your family around you, playing cards or just enjoying each other’s company. I learned this lesson along the way, sometimes the hard way. Whether you never want to start a business, or you have started down that crazy business road — maybe you are in start-up stage, perhaps growing like a weed, thinking about expanding into new territories, or even if your business is still just a great idea — there’s something here for you. No matter where you are on your journey, it’s always helpful to be reminded of the simple things that can make all the difference in helping you become a success.
An additional difference to this edition is that in line with my new role with Australia for UNHCR, 100 per cent of my author profits will be donated to the agency.
Being born in Australia, I struck the DNA jackpot and I have taken every opportunity that has passed by me with two hands. Unfortunately, not everyone in the world is so lucky. There are over 70 million refugees in the world who, not only miss out on opportunities to follow their dreams and live their passion, but they simply struggle to put food on the table and a roof over their head.
I am a huge believer in women helping women and that real change can happen when you give women the power to do so, which is why I have chosen to represent and donate to the Leading Women Fund .
The impact that financial independence has for a woman creates a huge flow-on effect, making long term changes for future generations of her family and her whole community. When women earn an income, they invest 90 per cent of it into their family versus 30-40 per cent by men*.
Financially empowering a female head of household creates opportunities for the next generation and all of those around her.
So, thank you for buying this book and helping contribute to a great cause. You can read on knowing that this small gesture has helped a woman to find her independence, her voice and a future to look forward to.
When you ask successful businesspeople how they got started, they may tell you about the little businesses they started in primary school — the ingenious corner lemonade stand, the school chocolate-bar sales or the lawn-mowing service employing other 12-year-olds. The types of businesses that led these overachievers to climb that first rung on the ladder to success. Sales charts, forecasts and ROI (return on investment) calculations lined the walls of these kids’ bedrooms like posters of Andy Gibb lined mine. The entrepreneurial spirit seems to be part of their DNA.
My story is drastically different. You could say that my entrepreneurial spirit was … umm — dormant. Okay, it was non-existent. To be honest, if you’d asked me what an entrepreneur was in primary school, I may have thought it had something to do with food and would have had no idea how to spell it. (Actually, I still struggle with spelling that word.) It was 20 years after primary school that foreign entrepreneurial DNA somehow began to morph my behaviour.
During the 20 years pre-DNA takeover, I travelled around the United States, Europe, and parts of Asia and Australia. I had 30 jobs, got fired from some, moved on to others, made money, lost more, met the wrong man, had a beautiful baby boy and met my soulmate. What I didn’t realise at the time was all the lessons and tools I was picking up with each triumph and pitfall. Each piece of my journey was enabling me to have the strength to take a tiny idea and turn it into a passion.
Of course, I don’t really think having the skills to become a successful entrepreneur literally needs to be part of your DNA. I also don’t believe there is a cookie-cutter process for success, or that success has to be hard or come easy. What I have attempted to do in the following chapters is to share with you my journey; it has many ups and equally as many downs. If someone had done the same for me, perhaps the learning curve would have been less bumpy. This is a short, honest glimpse into my archives so that you can see I’m human, just like you. I too trip over the kids’ toys, go to work with my children’s fears and problems running through my head, laugh, cry, make mistakes, learn from them and try to grow.
I hope that you take something from the following and follow your dreams.