True Business Stories

Allison (Ally) has a long retail career including General Manager roles at Target and The Reject Shop. Ally operates her own consulting business working with organisations providing operational support across finance, supply chain & logistics, merchandise & planning amongst other skills. Ally is also a Non Executive Director for the Geelong Bank and Chairs the AICD Geelong Regional Committ...

John is one of the great people working around Geelong. He has played for the Geelong Cats, coached school football teams and worked in banking and business development. He now runs his own business helping other businesses with strategy and with not-for-profit organisations in philanthropic support strategising.    He is also the producer for Propped by the Bar. 

Trisha took a long path from Ireland to Australia with a career spanning a number of countries in finance and banking.  Moving to Australia and becoming involved with the Irish Australian Chamber of Commerce (a great organisation that provides support and networking opportunities for Irish immigrants) finally led to Apollo Bay and starting GoodLife Real Estate.

Milo has a story of immigration from the former Yugoslavia to Australia and created a business from his love of video.  Milo creates great video content for businesses. 

Jodi has an extensive career in human resources and identified a gap in helping businesses outsource their HR needs and support. After working with many different companies she took the plunge and opened her own business that has been growing since 2013. A story of passion and determination.

Having been to Davidsons Restaurant at The Gordon we met and interviewed the Apprentice Chef that fed us so well. Pippa has won awards in her short journey and has a great future ahead of her. Leonie is the Commercial Food and Hospitality Manager for  The Culinary Collective that encompasses the food scene at The Gordon.

Chris is an inspiration with her work in the disability sector providing respite care and holiday accommodation.  Chris is passionate about inclusivity and the need for businesses to be accessible to all.

Kate Ware has a passion for marketing and helping businesses with her team of  marketing and brand professionals. MadeGreat is a one stop digital marketing agency. 

Jo Plummer had an extensive career working across corporate Australia and now as a Non- Executive Director looks to champion young and aspiring directors in performing at their optimum. This is done through her business Out of the Box Executive.  

Tracy has worked in tourism her whole life. Tracy's passion for sharing her knowledge and love of the Greater Geelong and The Bellarine as a tourism destination shines through in out chat.

June O'Brien has a rich and diverse cultural melting pot ancestry. New Guinean, Danish, Chinese and Melanesian - and a passion for food and wine. June has a story of a journey to create a tourism business with a difference. Giving her clients a memorable experience. 

Emily is passionate about property and has worked hard from owing her own Ray White Agency to now being the Australia wide Property Management CEO for Ray White.  Emily wants to see more women in leadership roles in property and this desire comes through strong in our chat. A great story.

Wayne has a grown up in the  Western Districts of Victoria and after many years as a Paramedic has now gone back to farming, growing garlic. The family business is vertically integrated, linking the worlds of horticulture and food processing to create a proudly 100% Australian quality product

Andrew has gone from playing AFL with Collingwood and the Sydney Swans to working around the world as a consultant His passion for helping others now sees him as the CEO of the Geelong Food Relief Centre. An fascinating story. 

Jess Anderson has worked hard all her life from leaving home at a young age to moving from Queensland to Lara. Jess is a Virgin Cabin Manager and runs her own business employing nine staff creating magic through Crew Faced   Makeup Artistry.

Diana is a very determined and focussed person that knew at 12 years old that she wanted to be a lawyer. Diana loves sport and her career has combined the love of law and sport This journey and how she went about it is all explained, as a help to others, in her book 'The Playbook'.

Cameron is the General Manager of Mr Browns and Browns Corporate Uniforms a long standing family business in Geelong West A business that started in 1956.

Damien is the Managing Director of Landserv a private, family owned business that has at its core purpose is to provide progressive, balanced contaminated land and environmental engineering solutions to shape our communities and enhance the environments we work in.

Russell Malishev owns Malishev Homes, one of the most awarded home builders in Australia, having won more than 110 national, state and regional awards. His father started building back in the 60's. Russell shows why education is so important as he developed and grew the business.

Aamir has a great story of perseverance. Arriving in Geelong from India to do an MBA at Deakin University and his first job as a cleaner at Avalon Airport. Aamir now runs an E business solutions  company spanning three countries. 

Erin and Luke have a passion for the creative industries, in particular film. They are on a journey to put Geelong on the map for film making. They are also successful film makers and actors with their film Paper Champions on Netflix.  

Chris has a story of wanting to be an architect but ended up founding his own IT company serving the needs of businesses. A great story and some interesting thoughts for businesses needing IT support.

Juliana started life in Brazil and moved from a deportment school to a high school in the USA with a passion to learn and grow. Juliana has a great story on her journey to Australia and her new home in Geelong.