#awinewith Samantha Hunter, Founder of Bloom Organics

https://bloomorganics.au/

In this episode we talked about...

* The supermarket moment that started it all: standing with her sister reading a soap box for her nephews' eczema, unable to pronounce a single ingredient, and deciding "we can do better than this".

* Researching her way from a COVID lockdown hobby to a handmade skincare and body care business in Airlie Beach - starting with a goat's milk, manuka honey and oat soap made for her family.

* Formulating for results, not trends: plant-derived ingredients, no unnecessary perfumes, and products that people with allergies and sensitive skin can actually use - because what you put on your skin ends up in your body.

* Why the weekend markets are her best business tool - letting sunburnt cruise ship visitors and curious locals try the product, no hard sell, and watching them come back an hour later saying "I'll have one of those".

* Letting customers write the product roadmap: the body butters, the Renew range for mature skin (tested by real women in their 50s and up, not models), and the men's all-in-one product - all built from conversations at her stall.

* The moment the "hobby that pays for itself" became a business - swapping the mindfulness hat for the business hat without losing the 3am creative buzz.

* Her current challenges, honestly: cracking exposure as a one-woman brand on a pocket-money budget (including her 30 Days of Bloom campaign), and streamlining small-batch manufacturing done entirely by hand.

* Her advice: if you've got something you love and believe in, just go for it - you don't need a course or $20k in the bank, and you're not struggling, you're learning.

Get more SPARK in your business…

SPARK Instagram Community | https://www.instagram.com/sparkbusiness.global/

FREE SPARK CEO Scorecard | https://sparkbusiness.global/the-spark-ceo-scorecard

$15k Quarterly Cash Grants for Women in Business | https://sparkbusiness.global/spark-women-in-business-grants

Join The SPARK CEO Hub | https://sparkbusiness.global/spark-ceo-hub

Thank you to IP Australia for supporting the SPARK podcast and women in business.

Grant Winner Interview: Dr Bethany Fisher, Founder of Dr Bethany's Tooth Tales - Round 12 $10k Winner

https://drbethanystoothtales.com/

In this episode we talked about...

* From dentist's chair to centre stage: how regularly extracting teeth from four-year-olds convinced Bethany the real work was prevention - and that it should be fun.

* The two songs she wrote "just randomly", the photo shoot for a business that didn't exist yet, and the gap year that turned out to be 2020.

* Taking Tooth Tales around the country - early learning centres, schools, playgroups, and an Indigenous community four hours south of Darwin - and the joy it brings to a topic mostadults still dread.

* What the $10k grant is funding: Tooth Tales On Demand, her play-based streaming platform - like Twinkl and Netflix, but for teeth - bringing oral health education to kids nomatter how far they are from a big city.

* Why she applied, and applied again - she first entered in Round 2, kept changing her idea after each miss, and won with the very concept she pitched the first time, reframed forthe life and business she has now.

* The application as a strategy session: how so few words force you to get concise about where your business is really headed and what impact the money will have.

* Her advice for anyone on the fence: apply and apply again - not winning doesn't mean the problem is your business or your idea.

Feeling inspired? The SPARK $15k Quarterly Cash Grants for Women in Business are open to women in business all over the world, and yes, you can apply more than once. Apply here |https://sparkbusiness.global/spark-women-in-business-grants

Thank you to IP Australia for supporting the SPARK podcast and women in business.

#awinewith Emma Grojnowski, Founder of My Beauty Swap

https://mybeautyswap.com/

In this episode we talked about...

* Thirty years in beauty: three award-winning Bondi day spas, a skincare range sold by the thousands in the US, and the garage-turned-salon where she's done treatments for the lastnine years.

* The moment behind My Beauty Swap - realising during COVID that she couldn't afford the very treatments she gives, and figuring there must be thousands of beauty professionals inthe same boat.

* How the platform works: verified beauty professionals only, swaps that don't have to be one-for-one, and a community-first Beauty Pro Hub with blogs, jobs, expos and rewards.

* The Rubik's Cube rebuild - throwing away a year of dev work, redoing it in a couple of months, and why she's grateful the disaster happened early rather than later.

* Launching city by city, starting with Sydney - and the self-control it takes to tell the UK and LA to wait their turn.

* Why staff was her biggest challenge across every business, and how running lean with freelancers lets her move at her own (workaholic) speed.

* Selling a business you've fallen out of love with - and how returning to hands-on treatments brought the love back.

* Her advice: just don't give up - if you believe in something and you're passionate about it, there is always a way (plus the matchbox key story that started it all).

Get more SPARK in your business…

SPARK Instagram Community | https://www.instagram.com/sparkbusiness.global/

FREE SPARK CEO Scorecard | https://sparkbusiness.global/the-spark-ceo-scorecard

$15k Quarterly Cash Grants for Women in Business | https://sparkbusiness.global/spark-women-in-business-grants

Join The SPARK CEO Hub | https://sparkbusiness.global/spark-ceo-hub

Thank you to IP Australia for supporting the SPARK podcast and women in business.

Grant Winner Interview: Jacinta Meyers, Founder of F.A.C.T.S - Round 12 $5k Winner

https://cosmetictestingservices.com/

In this episode we talked about...

* The pivot: after being a cosmetic brand owner since 2011, Jacinta stopped competing in a crowded market and built a business around her real strength - R&D and the lab bench -creating her own cosmetic testing laboratory and small-batch manufacturing facility.

* How she knew it was the right move: she wasn't sure at first, but everyone told her she started smiling whenever she talked about it. That must be my happy place.

* What the $5k bought: a new, larger incubator and an upgraded pH meter - because as she puts it, anything for the laboratory is so expensive.

* Why the kit matters: the incubator powers her stability testing (working out expiry dates by storing products at different temperatures), means no more worrying about breakdowns,and lets her take on more client samples - and the pH meter keeps products right for whatever they're made for, skin or hair.

* The persistence story: her family kept asking if she'd heard back, quietly gave up... and had no idea she'd kept applying, until she rang them all on the same day with the news.

* How she improved each application: a few more takes on the video (not her strength, and that's fine), showing the judges her cramped old incubator, and sitting down first to ask -what are my real pain points, and how would this money solve them?

* Her advice: keep applying, it's really worth it and good practice too. No AI, all from the heart - just answer every question clearly, answer all of them, and you'll be fine.

Feeling inspired? The SPARK $15k Quarterly Cash Grants for Women in Business are open to women in business all over the world, and yes, you can apply more than once. Apply here |https://sparkbusiness.global/spark-women-in-business-grants

Thank you to IP Australia for supporting the SPARK podcast and women in business.

#awinewith Faith Limantono, Founder of Inknite Labs

https://www.inknitelabs.com/

In this episode we talked about...

* How Faith went from a law degree (and a first marketing job at a vibrator company) to founding her own digital marketing agency - and why the winding path was the point.

* Why she's fervently anti-niche, and how working across coaches, consultants, AI startups and not-for-profits makes her marketing sharper, not scattered.

* The VIP day model - shipping an entire marketing project in 24 hours to beat overthinking, get something minimal viable out the door, and learn from real feedback.

* Treating marketing as self-expression, not just a commercial necessity - the mindset shift that finally cracked her own Instagram after three years of avoiding it.

* In a world of AI content, imperfection is a superpower. People buy from people, mistakes prove you're human, and your tone of voice is your best differentiator.

* The 24-7 mental load of business ownership is something you can't understand until you live it - and why support for your mindset, hard truths from trusted experts, and asking forhelp matter.

* Business is really hard, so find other hard things - what playing basketball taught Faith about losing well, staying part of a team, and not tying her identity to her business.

* Why you don't have to pick one thing for life - build your personal brand first, and let it be the thread that joins all your interests together.

Get more SPARK in your business…

SPARK Instagram Community | https://www.instagram.com/sparkbusiness.global/

FREE SPARK CEO Scorecard | https://sparkbusiness.global/the-spark-ceo-scorecard

$15k Quarterly Cash Grants for Women in Business | https://sparkbusiness.global/spark-women-in-business-grants

Join The SPARK CEO Hub | https://sparkbusiness.global/spark-ceo-hub

Thank you to IP Australia for supporting the SPARK podcast and women in business.

#awinewith Jennifer Bicknell, Founder of Bicknell Law & Consulting

https://jenniferbicknell.com.au/

In this episode we talked about...

* The "Seth Godin concert" moment that made a happy international law firm partner realise she no longer fit her tribe - and why the only person who'd let her do the crazy thingsshe wanted to do was her.

* Why Jen calls herself a dispute prevention advisor: almost every workplace dispute that landed in her inbox could have been prevented by one difficult conversation, had early,when the issue was small.

* What workplace law actually covers, and why doing nothing is usually the wrong response - from toxic employees driving out your rock stars to the positive duty to prevent sexualharassment.

* The five essential ingredients of an effective difficult conversation: see it as an opportunity, use empathy, be self-aware, make no assumptions, and address the behaviour, notthe person.

* The golf swing method - a 5-minute planning tool that starts with what winning looks like, a script you don't hide ("this conversation is really important to me, so I've preparedsome notes"), and a warm welcome that sets the tone.

* Why delaying a hard conversation is like ignoring a toothache: the earlier you have it, the more likely you can keep it human, take a walk, and even use humour.

* Candor is kindness - why letting someone languish for years in a role that doesn't suit them is the cruel option, and why avoiding the conversation is about our comfort, not theirfeelings.

* Jen's advice: use your connections, roleplay the hard conversations with people you trust, and pick yourself - because once you run your own business, you never go back.

Get more SPARK in your business…

SPARK Instagram Community | https://www.instagram.com/sparkbusiness.global/

FREE SPARK CEO Scorecard | https://sparkbusiness.global/the-spark-ceo-scorecard

$15k Quarterly Cash Grants for Women in Business | https://sparkbusiness.global/spark-women-in-business-grants

Join The SPARK CEO Hub | https://sparkbusiness.global/spark-ceo-hub

Thank you to IP Australia for supporting the SPARK podcast and women in business.

#awinewith Natasha May, Marriage Celebrant and Founder of Elite Elopements

https://eliteelopements.com.au/

In this episode we talked about...

* How 18 years in event management, from running around Queensland weddings at 20 to big-budget corporate events, led Natasha to celebrancy - and why she waited until the timing(and life experience) was right.

* The business born while waiting - how Elite Elopements started because Natasha couldn't sit still while her celebrancy registration came through, and spotted a gap in the market.

* Busting the elopement myths: it's not just about saving money - it's for couples with young kids, introverts, travellers, and anyone who wants the day to actually be about them.

* Her risk-first approach to keeping couples safe - vetted vendors, robust contracts, and always asking "what's the worst that could happen?" then working backwards.

* Helicopters, boats and horses: building unique, refined elopement experiences by aligning with the right partners - and why word of mouth is everything in weddings.

* The honest reality of funding a new business with a full-time job - working until midnight, staying determined, and why that's a smart strategy, not a failure.

* Prioritising over hustling: the giant sheet of butcher's paper that keeps the business (and family time) on track.

* Her advice: it's okay to make mistakes - learn from them, outsource what you're not good at, and keep going, because nothing worth building comes easy.

Get more SPARK in your business…

SPARK Instagram Community | https://www.instagram.com/sparkbusiness.global/

FREE SPARK CEO Scorecard | https://sparkbusiness.global/the-spark-ceo-scorecard

$15k Quarterly Cash Grants for Women in Business | https://sparkbusiness.global/spark-women-in-business-grants

Join The SPARK CEO Hub | https://sparkbusiness.global/spark-ceo-hub

Thank you to IP Australia for supporting the SPARK podcast and women in business.

#awinewith Shannon Blackbourn, Founder of Panacea Landscapes

https://www.panacealandscapes.com/

In this episode we talked about...

*Leaving school at 16 for a landscaping apprenticeship, then falling in love with learning - 12 more years of study across horticulture, landscaping and landscape design.

*Starting Panacea Landscapes four years ago with no money and no borrowed money - just her husband's tools, a family car with a trailer, and one little contract.

*Learning business completely from scratch: pays, super, insurance- including the day $12,000 of unpaid super appeared, and the wizard bookkeeper who answers the phone on a Wednesday night.

*Why hiring a landscaping coach was the investment that transformed her pricing, her profits and even her website (his review: "who built your website? Because it's terrible").

*Growing the Canberra way- do the best job on every single job, take the small losses to leave things right, and let word of mouth and referrals do the rest.

*Building a team of six (including her best friend) and figuring out each step only when she got to it- because if you knew all the problems up front, you'd never start.

*The bigger dream: therapeutic horticulture, starting with volunteering to garden with the kids at her children's school.

*Her advice: remember what your passion is, and when you think it's over or you're going to give up- if you really want it, push on, and it'll all workout.

Get more SPARK in your business...

SPARK Instagram Community| https://www.instagram.com/sparkbusiness.global/

FREE SPARK CEO Score card| https://sparkbusiness.global/the-spark-ceo-scorecard

$15k Quarterly Cash Grants for Women in Business| https://sparkbusiness.global/spark-women-in-business-grants

Join The SPARK CEO Hub| https://sparkbusiness.global/spark-ceo-hub

Thank you to IP Australia for supporting the SPARK podcast and women in business.