The Pay Off with Sylvia Jeffreys

It came in a midnight email, despite having just kicked some huge goals for her company, and just six weeks after returning from parental leave. Redundancy. Something that's being faced by people in their thousands right now. In this episode, Sylvia Jeffreys sits down with Natalie MacDonald. As a former business journalist and a founding member of the LinkedIn News Australia team, Natalie spent ne...

Your days of wondering where all your money went are over. In this empowering episode, full-time nurse turned anti-influencer Breana Davison (@breeonabudget) reveals how she broke free from a debilitating mountain of debt to buy her first home, a secure financial foundation and absolute control over her spending and lifestyle. In this episode: the reality of a life of intentional spending and mini...

There's plenty of advice out there about fostering a social media, building a multi-million dollar business, or creating an utterly devoted community. Steph Claire Smith, founder of KIC, one of Australia's biggest wellness brands, has done all of these things. But her key is a little more simple than most: above all, keep it real. Not only that, this principle has also steered her through some of...

If you thought an EOFY sale was the biggest threat to your savings right now, this episode will make you think again. Ben Young, Head of Fraud and Scams Prevention at Westpac , pulls back the curtain on the scams he encounters - and fights - every day. From 'flavour of the month' tactics specifically designed for tax time, to emotion-triggering texts, the long cons of investment or romance scams,...

Australian actress and comedian Mary Coustas - and her famous and fabulous alter-ego Effie - have been responsible for decades of laughter. But away from the stage and screen, she's faced struggles shared by millions of other women: a grueling 23-cycle IVF journey, navigating the profound grief of a stillbirth and symptoms of menopause that, surprisingly, were hardest to deal with of all. In this...

Being honest has done a lot for Talitha Cummins. It's allowed her to pivot her skills as a prominent television journo into becoming the founder and design director of Australian fine jewelry house  The Cut . It's generated sales across the world with zero in paid marketing. It's ruffled the feathers of her competition. It's helped her heal from addiction and it's encouraged countless others...

Australia is caught in a complicated, fast-moving financial landscape—what Westpac CEO Anthony Miller calls a "swirling economy." In this episode, Sylvia sits down with the leader of one of the nation’s Big Four banks for an unfiltered, data-backed assessment of the country's economic future. Anthony shares his candid perspective on the structural hurdles holding Australia back an...

It's the question that weighs upon every parent: where do I send my kids to school? But with yearly tuition fees for private schooling reaching truly staggering numbers, another question often follows: is it worth it? In this eye-opening episode, Skye Predavec, researcher behind the Australia Institute's recent report on private schooling unpacks the data and the stark structural realities of our...

If you've ever wanted to ensure you're giving your kids the best possible financial start - imparting not just wealth, but the means for them to generate and handle their own wealth throughout their lives, this is the episode for you! Finance expert, mother of three and author of  'How to Raise Rich Kids' Sarah Megginson is here to share her expertise, including: What rich really means ...

Between the cost-of-living crisis, a brutal housing market, and the constant "doom-scrolling" of financial news, it’s easy to feel financially disheartened. But today’s guest has a different perspective. In this episode, Sylvia sits down with Scott Phillips , Chief Investment Officer at The Motley Fool Australia to explain why (and how) your long-term financial future could be brighter...

Sylvia Jeffreys and financial advisor Ben Nash continue dissecting the latest federal budget, exploring how the proposed property tax and CGT changes will affect young Australians. And if they become law, what are some other investment opportunities for younger Aussies to mull over? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happens when you take the "blinkered" focus of an elite swimmer and apply it to the high-stakes world of stockbroking, fintech and entrepreneurship? The success of Luke  Trickett , ex-competitive swimmer and founder of  Marmalade and Blue Stamp Company , is the answer. Luke reveals why "satisfaction" is a foreign concept to him, the reality of transitioning from the pool to stockbro...

Are we sleepwalking into a national food crisis? A war in the Middle East, a global shipping bottleneck, blown-up fuel and LNG plants are contributing to a global fuel crisis. But beyond fuel, it's the effect on fertiliser supply that might shock Australians if the crisis isn't solved sometime soon. Farmer and social media star Charlie Blomfield joins Sylvia to talk about the massive geopolitical...

On December 14 2025, an evening of Hanukkah celebration in Dover Heights rapidly became something very different for NSW Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane. In this raw and deeply personal conversation, Kellie recounts the moments she jumped into a Hatzolah ambulance to race toward the danger of Bondi beach, arriving at the scene as the final shots were being fired. Kellie provides a visceral, first-...

With a generational overhaul of property taxes, family trusts, and negative gearing, the government has finally picked a side in the housing war.  Sylvia, Amy Remeikis, and Joel Gibson dig into who wins and who loses, why your rentvesting strategy just hit a wall, and if the broken promise of this budget will actually be forgiven at the ballot box. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy info...

Next week, the federal budget drops. For most of us, it’s a flurry of headlines and jargon that feels a world away from our daily bank balance. But behind the billion-dollar figures are the decisions that dictate your rent, your grocery bills, and your job security. And luckily, to help us 'get it', there's Nine Finance Editor Chris Kohler. In this episode, Chris breaks down what might be th...

Sylvia sits down with AMP Deputy Chief Economist Diana Mousina to analyze the RBA's latest rise and exactly what it means for your family budget.  In this episode: Exactly how much more the average new mortgage holder is looking at from recent hikes How rising petrol and diesel prices act like a "hidden" interest rate rise on top of the RBA’s decision The potential for costs to be passe...

Can wiping away what you've been told about profiting lead to your business being flush with cash? Simon Griffiths, the visionary co-founder and CEO of Who Gives a Crap knows so. In fact, in this episode, he shares why giving away 50% of his company's profits not only led to multi-millions donated to the cause of global sanitation, but to a competitive market advantage and success that could not h...

How do you go from being the youngest on-air reporter in NBC history, to a fixture of every red carpet event in LA, to founding a fashion brand worn by Kylie Jenner, Rihanna, and Ariana Grande? In Kathryn Eisman 's case: fearlessly.  In this episode, the powerhouse entrepreneur, author, and media personality shares her unfiltered journey of radical career pivots, from living in a caravan on a...

If the problem is sky high fuel costs, could an electric vehicle be the solution? It's the logical question being asked by more and more Australians. But are there hidden costs we don't know about? Are they actually cheaper to run than a standard petrol car? Is Australia's charging infrastructure good enough? And what are the best options right now? Sylvia chats to James Ward, director of content...

How do you come up with a brilliant business idea simply from browsing online? How do you scale that business to reach hundreds of thousands of users? And how do you do it all with your best friend whilst keeping your relationship as strong as ever? Oh yeah, you can also throw in having a baby and being recognised by Forbes 30 under 30 too.  Two young women who have the answers to all of thes...

From the high-stakes pressure of Silicon Valley’s dot-com boom to leading one of Australia's largest telecommunications giants through a national crisis, Kelly Bayer Rosmarin has navigated a career defined by massive shifts and "deep end" learning. In this insightful episode, the former Optus CEO joins Sylvia to discuss her new chapter as the head of Australian Unity and the hard-won lessons...

How more Australians can enter into the property market - how they can have dignified, secure housing that delivers good capital growth - is the multi-million dollar question. And it's one that Evan Thornley might have an answer to. In this episode, the tech pioneer, founder of LongView and co-founder of GoodStart, argues that while the system is fundamentally broken, there is a data-driven path t...

Sylvia sits down with Alice Stoltz from Domain—often called the "walking encyclopedia" of Australian real estate—to cut through the headlines and give you the data-driven truth about what’s happening right now. If you’ve been feeling "handcuffed" by interest rates or worried about the "choppy" nature of recent auctions, this is for you. In this episode: Which segment of the...

At 15, all Matt Moran knew is that he didn't want to be in school anymore. At 22, he had his first restaurant. And now, he has a name synonymous with success and excellence.  Matt opens up about his humble beginnings, the reality of the high-pressure world of professional kitchens, and just how far a desire to work, to learn, to ask the right questions, to trust the right people - and above a...