168 – Lessons learnt. Australia’s richest woman under 40

168 – Lessons learnt. Australia’s richest woman under 40

Last week we highlighted Sheryl Sandbergs top 10 rules for success, and provided information on two awesome programs for women looking to grow their business!  Business Chicks have created Elevate and Power Players to support you as you work directly with your peers on your business, not in it, during a monthly session.  You can find out all the details on the programs on our show notes page. Maxumcorp.com.au/podcast episode 167

While it’s easy to imagine the ladies with the biggest dollars are those on the world’s catwalks and Hollywood movie sets, it’s the names you may never have heard of that make up the list of young rich Australian women under 40.

Sitting on top is 37-year-old Cyan Ta’eed, the founder of ethical chocolate company Hey Tiger and co-founder of online design and photography hub Envato. With co-founder and husband Collis, they have a combined net worth of $216 million.

In 2006, Cyan Ta’eed launched her start-up while living in her parent’s basement at the age of 24. Today she is one of Australia’s richest women.

After graduating with a graphic design degree and securing a great job at a boutique agency, Ms Ta’eed wanted more.

“Despite everything being ‘right’ with the job — great owners, great work, lovely colleagues — I couldn’t stop taking on freelance projects,” she tells BW Magazine.

“I loved creating something from scratch and having control over it. I quit that job three months in and started working for myself when I was just 23 … Many start-ups later, here I am.”

Since launching Envato in her parent’s garage in 2006, the Melbourne-based company has grown into an online community of more than eight million members.

Ms Ta’eed shares some of the most important things she has learnt are setting ambitious goals, not giving up, developing entrepreneurship skills over time, and being able to critically analyse your own strengths and weaknesses.

I have to agree with Cyan about the importance of not only knowing your Strengths and Weaknesses but also knowing your employees and or board of directors’ strengths and weaknesses.  When your team is focused on performing the tasks that they are good at you will execute with precision, have a harmonious culture and well to be blunt GET SHIT DONE!  I have included some links on out show notes page to  Clifton Strength finders assessment.  They have several assessments ranging from $19.99US to get your top 5 strengths or $39.99 to learn more in depth 34 strengths.  If you want to hear more on this topic check out episode 75 on Emotional intelligence where I dive deep on three different assessments. Clifton Strengths – which used to be called Gallup plus Myers-Briggs & EQ-i2.0. Now back to lessons from Cyan she says;

iTunes link CLICK HERE  

“I’ve been lucky enough to have met many of Australia’s top entrepreneurs and the common theme is feeling constantly challenged and stretched by the work they’re doing,” she says.

“Most aren’t certain they can do it and are just figuring it out as they go along.”

As Envato was taking off, Ta’eed had a life changing experience which made her re-evaluate her perspective on business. After a freak health scare which impacted one of her eyes, she spent a whole month in total darkness. On venturing outside again, Ta’eed was inspired to start another company — this time one with a focus on having a social conscious.  She explains, ”I came out of the other side of that experience and I thought ‘you know what, I want to do something really different now,’”. “For some reason I just kept coming back to chocolate,” she continued, adding that she “kept coming back to this thing that brings me so much pleasure … but is responsible for a whole lot of pain and suffering in the world.”

Aimed at changing the way the world produces ethical chocolate, Ta’eed launched Hey Tiger, which sees ethical and humanitarian production of high-quality chocolate.

But what’s it like being one of Australia’s most successful businesswomen? As most founders would say, Ta’eed admits it wasn’t easy.

“I generally think it’s a really good idea not to think about things too much before you do them — I’ve always had impostor syndrome, quite a bit of it,” she jokes, adding that taking the leap to start a new business was a mix between luck and hard work.

“I do think entrepreneurship is like a muscle, you’ve just got to flex it and learn,” she says. “I am certainly not the smartest person in this room … there’s nothing about me that’s sensational in any way except that I decided to do something that everyone said was stupid.”

Thank you for listening to this podcast! The first word that comes to me is Gratitude.  I am great full for everyone who is listening, and I’m grateful for all the amazing awesome guests.    I have learned so much from everyone sharing their lessons learned, tips and stories.  They have been such an inspiration to me, I hope you feel the same way.  Thank you to all the guests who have shared their wisdom.      We are always looking for business owner’s…. entrepreneurs who are interested in being a guest on Inspiring Greatness!  So that is you or if know of someone who would be fabulous.    Please reach out  or  send  us  a  quick  email  to Shelley@maxumcorp.com.au

Please send us a message on our Inspiring Greatness Facebook page , or alternatively you can also email  Shelley@Maxumcorp.com.au

End with a quote from Cyan Ta’eed

Quote – “entrepreneurship is like a muscle, you’ve just got to flex it and learn”

Resources and Links Mentioned in this Session Include:

Business Chicks Founded by Emma Isaacs has two amazing programs to support women business owners.

1. Elevate
2. PowerPlayers

If you’re ready to lift your business game, increase your knowledge and play among the best, then PowerPlayers is for you. This program is exclusively for founders and owners who have a significant share in their business and a minimum of two full time employees.

It is a fabulous program!  APPLY HERE

Reach out to me if you want to hear more on Business Chicks programs to support women in business.  Lastly, if you are struggling as a leader perhaps looking for a mentor to help guide you and your business so you can execute your strategy with precision.  Have a listen to episode 18 – 5 reasons why you need a coach/mentor.   Also included on our show notes is a link to Gazelles one page strategic plan worksheet.

I am personally offering a 30 minute free coaching session to provide some professional tips.

BOOK HERE

Get two free audio books from Amazon

Access the summary of these two books by signing up for Blinkist

 (Please note: some of the links above are affiliate links so if you buy a course or book using these links I will receive a little compensation. Thank you for supporting this site!)

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