What working on David Bowie’s yacht taught Boost founder Janine Allis

Growing up, Janine Allis never thought about starting her own business. “I didn’t even know what an entrepreneur was,” she says. But after spotting a gap in the market, there was no stopping the founder of a now-global smoothie company that’s worth hundreds of millions of dollars. On the final ep…

‘It's the Mount Everest of careers’: How Fleet’s CEO built an $800m company

Since she was a little girl, Flavia Tata Nardini was obsessed with space. The Italian-born rocket scientist began her career at the European Space Agency but moved to Adelaide in her 20s, where she found herself confronted with a lack of industry. Left with no other choice, she started her own bu…

A scam set WA’s fertiliser king on a path to a $5b fortune

Vikas Rambal came to Australia from India on a prospective business trip in 2000. But the project he was looking into was not what it seemed. It was a moment on his five-day trip that would prove to be pivotal. On this week’s episode of How I Made It, Rich List editor Yolanda Redrup finds out how…

How a former IBM executive redefined Australia’s restaurant scene

Chris Lucas grew up in the world of hospitality, often spending time in his dad’s pub in Geelong. But it wasn’t until his mid-30s that one of the country’s top restaurateurs entered the industry himself. On this week’s episode of How I Made It, host Lauren Sams finds out how working at IBM as a s…

He could’ve been Qantas CEO. Instead Bruce Buchanan started a $7.2b company

Leading Australia’s largest airline is by all accounts a dream job.  But in 2012, Bruce Buchanan – who was on track to become chief executive of Qantas – walked away from the national carrier. He now runs one of the world’s hottest tech companies: $7.2 billion e-commerce marketing tech firm Rokt. …

Trinny Woodall, What Not To Wear and a multimillion-dollar company

Trinny Woodall first became a household name as one half of the dynamic duo, Trinny and Susannah. Together the pair built a career issuing fashion advice to women on their long-running BBC series, What Not to Wear. But at the age of 53 Woodall decided it was time to step out on her own, launching …

How the (banker) founder of MJ Bale took over menswear

Growing up on a sheep farm, Matt Jensen has long had an appreciation for natural fibres. But it was during a stint in London working as a banker that the budding entrepreneur spotted a gap in the menswear market. On this week’s episode of How I Made It, fashion editor Lauren Sams finds out how th…

How Bruce Keebaugh turned $500 into a global events company

When the co-founder and former chief executive of The Big Group was 21, he had just $500 in his pocket. Not afraid of risk, Bruce Keebaugh and his wife, Chyka Keebaugh, used it to champion the competitive world of catering and events. This week on How I Made it, The Australian Financial Review’s …

‘The napkin came across the table’: How software giant Xero was born

From the start of high school, Rod Drury was captivated by computing.  It was a fascination that would go on to create one of the largest ASX-listed tech companies, accounting software giant Xero. In this week’s episode of How I Made It, The Australian Financial Review Rich List editor Yolanda Re…

The founder of O&M had one big idea. It became a global haircare empire

Jose Bryce Smith came to Australia on holiday. Seven years later, she founded what would become one of the country’s biggest haircare brands. With products stocked in more than 30,000 salons across 21 countries, Original & Mineral (O&M) is a dominant force in the hair industry. In this week’s epi…