After literally collapsing under the stress of a high-pressure job and a family, my own journey back to wellness has led me to start two businesses based on gut-friendly products.
People often ask me how I got to where I am, as the founder of two very different family-operated businesses.
My answer? It was an unexpected series of events that led to me starting my entrepreneurial life at the age of 50.
Running a small business wasn’t necessarily something I aspired to when I was younger. I was ambitious, yes, but I wanted to make an impact by doing meaningful work that helped people. It was this drive to make positive change that led to me being appointed CEO of a nonprofit organisation at just 22.
Being a woman isn’t something that I saw as a barrier to success. I was lucky to be raised in a family where I was encouraged to try my hand at anything, and instilled with the confidence to believe in myself and my value.
I think most women know that we’re just as capable as men when it comes to our potential as business leaders. And in many ways, the entrepreneurial pathway is especially appealing for women. It gives us the opportunity to be the masters of our own destiny and create a flexible role for ourselves, especially when we’re also juggling family commitments.
But my journey to founding a small business began when I collapsed at work.
Rewind 15 years. I was in a high-pressure job, with three young kids, myriad other responsibilities, and a husband who was away a lot for work. I thought I could do it all, and be everything to everyone. While I was committed to exercising and keeping fit, my overall health took a back seat. I wasn’t eating well, sleeping well or allowing myself time to switch off. I’d fallen victim to the idea that women can somehow “have it all”, and it wasn’t until I collapsed at work, and woke up sprawled on our boardroom floor, that I realised something had to give.
“I’ve found women in business are generally better at communicating and building solid relationships.”
I was diagnosed with viral encephalitis, and the debilitating nature of the illness meant I had to give up my high-pressure job and take time to rest and recover.
Losing my job and my health felt like hitting rock bottom. Little did I know, in the space of the next few years I would also lose my beloved mother to cancer, and then my middle child, Molly, in a tragic accident on our property.
Trying to describe the dark place I was in feels almost impossible. And at that point, if you’d told me I’d one day be founding a business, I wouldn’t have believed you.
But eventually, after many hard years, I found myself on a journey to recovery, and part of this was about looking at my physical health, and how this was linked to my emotional and mental wellbeing.
I read about the importance of gut health in helping us regulate our emotions and stabilise our moods, and I was intrigued. With nothing to lose, I set about changing my diet – quitting sugar and prioritising healthy gut-friendly foods, and the change was profound. I felt so much stronger mentally.
So, how did this lead to starting a small business?
Horses have been a large part of my life for as long as I can remember, and a few years ago my horse Cruz was struggling. We’d taken him to the vet, tried many treatments, but nothing seemed to make a difference. But then I wondered, what if helping his gut health could also help Cruz enjoy better overall health?
Inspired by my own gut health experiences, I contacted equine vets and nutritionists for advice, and with their help, created the blueprint for what would become our first Poseidon Animal Health product: Digestive EQ.
The results spoke for themselves. Cruz got a whole new lease on life, and I realised there was huge potential for gut health supplements for horses. We’ve also now expanded our range into gut health supplements for dogs – launching with Digestive K9 in 2021.
As with most women (and men) who found small businesses, my business ideas have been in response to addressing a challenge or pain point of my own. Our second business is also linked to gut health, but has nothing to do with horses and dogs.
I was feeling frustrated that when I went out for dinner or drinks, I could never find a gut-friendly option. A drink that was low in sugar, not packed with preservatives, and that actually tasted great.
My solution was to brew kombucha at home and then add a shot of alcohol to it, as a gut-friendly alternative to sugar-laden wines and mixed drinks. This then inspired the idea for our second business, Australian Fermented Beverages. We’re the makers of Saint + Sinner alcoholic kombucha – a gut-friendly, healthier alternative with low calories, low sugar, no preservatives and no nasties. But most importantly, it tastes delicious.
I think as women in business, we face a unique set of challenges.
Inevitably we’re often running our businesses alongside our family commitments, and it can feel like an impossible juggle trying to do it all. And we’re also carrying the mental load of our lives, whether we’ve got kids or not, whether we’re partnered or single. Each of us has a unique set of circumstances and pressures.
But I also think being a woman in business has great benefits.
At the risk of gender stereotyping, I’ve found women in business are generally better at communicating and building solid relationships. These are essential skills for success in small business – so much relies on building strong relationships with customers, partners and suppliers, and on being able to confidently communicate with any audience.
For me, connecting with people confidently, and building relationships have both been key for our success in business.
Losing Molly has taught me to value every single day, and to live an intentional and purposeful life. Every day is an opportunity to make a positive impact, and every day I feel grateful to be here, taking another breath.
It also cemented the importance of resilience to me – both in life and in business. Resilience doesn’t just mean soldiering on when things are hard, it’s also about knowing when to say no to something, or knowing when you’ve made the wrong decision and are moving on to something else. It’s understanding that when we hit a roadblock, we have to look for a new path around it – sometimes a door closes, but a window opens.
I’m in my mid-50s now, and while some of my peers are talking about retirement, I couldn’t think of anything worse. I’m just getting started.
This article first appeared in issue 38 of the Inside Small Business quarterly magazine
