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How I made it

How I Made It

Sponsored by Commbank

Inside the Rich List: How Australia’s top entrepreneurs built their fortunes and what they learnt along the way. What’s the difference between you and a Rich Lister? Listen and see.

Hosted by

Julie-anne Sprague

Rich List editor

Julie-anne Sprague

Produced by

Lap Phan

Podcast Producer & Actor

Lap Phan

Listen now

Latest Episode

This former Young Rich Lister just spent $700k to alter his genes

Nick Bell’s first business failed, his next made him millions. The serial entrepreneur’s latest business venture involves helping people live longer.

  • Julie-anne Sprague

The homeschooled billionaire who built a fortune before turning 40

Shaun Bonett was the country’s richest person under 40 in 2007. Now a billionaire, he shares his story, including a humiliating $25 million mistake.

  • Julie-anne Sprague

December 2023

Rich Lister Sam Kennard took over the self-storage business when he was just 24.

How Sam Kennard built a $2.6b empire

The influential business figure always had ambition to work and grow the family company. But he didn’t expect his dad to give him total control when he was just 24 years of age.

  • Julie-anne Sprague

How Cathie Reid went from typing class to a $550m fortune

The Rich Lister originally wanted to be a typist. Instead, she became a pharmacist before she spotted a gap in the market and become an entrepreneur alongside husband Stuart Giles.

  • Julie-anne Sprague

November 2023

How I Made It with Kevin Gosschalk

Why this Young Rich Lister shuns Australian investors

“When you find something you really enjoy, sleeping really just gets in the way,” says Kevin Gosschalk, the Young Rich Lister behind Arkose Labs.

  • Julie-anne Sprague

How Mark Carnegie thumb-sucked his way off the Rich List

The entrepreneur and corporate adviser has had plenty of woulda, shoulda, coulda moments. One of them cost him about $100 million.

  • Julie-anne Sprague

October 2023

This school drop-out became a property magnate. Here’s how he did it

He was told he didn’t have the ‘capability’ to finish school. Now, Nigel Satterley has a $500 million empire that landed him on the Rich List.

  • Julie-anne Sprague
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This Rich Lister added $1b to his wealth in less than two years

Medical technology firm Pro Medicus has delivered blistering returns this year. Its success has propelled co-founder Sam Hupert into the $2 billion club.

  • Julie-anne Sprague

September 2023

Being an introvert helped set up this Young Rich Lister to make $1b

Alex Tomic didn’t find university challenging, so he quit. Now he’s worth $125 million and climbing, as the toothpaste-related company he formed with a childhood friend shines bright.

  • Julie-anne Sprague
Carolyn Creswell’s secret weapon is vanilla.

The checkout chick who created a $170m empire

Carolyn Creswell’s company dominates the supermarket shelves. But it didn’t start that way. In the early days, she had to come up clever ways to get ahead.

  • Julie-anne Sprague

May 2023

Gabrielle Manning rented out her home to help fund the creation of Manning Cartell.

‘Don’t care what other people think’: This founder’s key to success

Gabrielle Manning was climbing the ladder of a corporate career in the fashion industry until, in her early 30s, she and two of her sisters quit their jobs to go it alone.

  • Julie-anne Sprague
Bec Jefferd (seated) and Ava Chandler.

How Ultra Violette went from 3000 Insta followers to global brand

Bec Jefferd and Ava Chandler-Matthews worked together at Mecca before realising no-one was marketing the ultimate anti-ageing product: daily sunscreen.

  • Julie-anne Sprague
Priscilla Hajiantoni quit a corporate job at ANZ to create a product to fix her skin.

This 29-year-old used her house deposit to create a start-up success

Bangn Body’s Priscilla Hajiantoni suffered from skin breakouts. She’d tried everything and nothing seemed to work. So she set out to make her own skincare products.

  • Julie-anne Sprague

April 2023

Jo Horgan

Stay private and persevere: How Jo Horgan made Mecca a retail giant

The retail cosmetics powerhouse lost money for its first four years and was on the verge of shutting down. Now it turns over more than $570 million.

  • Julie-anne Sprague
Tania Austin operates with a small business mindset.

How Tania Austin built one of Australia’s most successful retailers

Tania Austin is the force behind women’s fashion group Decjuba, a business she bought in 2008 when there were just five stores. Now there’s 140 and counting.

  • Julie-anne Sprague

March 2023

She made $140m selling underwear, now she’s investing it back in women

ModiBodi founder Kristy Chong urges female entrepreneurs to have a detailed plan for how to grow their businesses and to get their life partners on Trello.

  • Julie-anne Sprague
Female Founders

Female Founders: a new podcast series

Hear some of Australia’s top women entrepreneurs explain how they turned a simple idea into a successful business.

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September 2022

‘The best business advice is printed on Nike t-shirts’

He quit his job as a consultant to sell TVs on eBay for 1c. By 31, Ruslan Kogan had landed on the Financial Review Rich List after building online retail group Kogan.com. Here’s what he’s learnt.

  • Julie-anne Sprague
Online retail entrepreneur Ruslan Kogan.

This Rich Lister quit his job as a consultant to sell TVs for 1¢

While living in a Melbourne housing commission flat, a young Ruslan Kogan honed his selling skills, making a buck selling golf balls and washing cars.

  • Julie-anne Sprague

August 2022

Aaron Hornlimann’s company Elenium makes the technology that helps us get in and out of an airport faster.

‘Sure, of course I can’: From uni dropout to young rich list

Aaron Hornlimann, 35, is behind a company whose technology makes it easier for people to get in and out of airports.

  • Julie-anne Sprague

Want to be a Rich Lister? Get up at 4am, take an ice bath, meditate

Simon Beard says being an entrepreneur is like trying to make it to the NBA. His days are literally planned to the minute. Hear his story on the How I Made It podcast. Listen for free.

  • Julie-anne Sprague
Simon Beard got rid of a lot of law books that came with his $15m penthouse to make way for a wall of sneakers.

From tight-arse teenager to the Rich List

Culture Kings founder Simon Beard grew up in Mount Isa, ran a market stall on the Gold Coast and last year cut a deal to sell his company s for more than $600 million. Here’s how.

  • Julie-anne Sprague

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