Moula Good Business

From beading to a budding fashion label, Natalie has been grinding and hustling since she was 23 to grow a business that is now sought by women around the world.

Tanya Duncan and Lisa Bourne met at the gym and became good friends when their kids started school together. A fruitless search for healthy, sugar-free snacks for their kids’ lunches led the pair to co-found Funch in 2014.

Melanie Townsend grew up on a farm in Zimbabwe where fun meant cooking or baking. Learning how to make a little go a long way instilled an irrepressible creativity in her cooking, a lifelong passion for food, and led her to start two culinary schools on two different continents.

Tammy Greig knows her way around power tools. In 2015, she met up with Carla Peck and what started out as a playdate for their young daughters turned into the beginning of My Little Giggles. Carla noticed the ‘Learning Tower’ Tammy had made in her garage and saw the potential to build a brand around the problem-solving product.

Hannah Vasicek (left) first ventured into business aged 12, but being her own boss wasn't always the plan. She was going to be a doctor, then a lawyer, instead she pursued her passion and built a million dollar jewellery business from the ground up.

In April 2016, Martin Kirby quietly set out with the immodest goal of stoking the narrative around ethical clothing in the Australian retail market. Before opening Godspeed, he dropped out of high school, started a hardcore punk band and toured the world for ten years, visiting over 40 countries. As he celebrates two years in business, Martin reflects on the lessons he learned along the way.

In his first five minutes of trade, having only sold three sandwiches, Garrett Huston smashed the door on one of his restaurant’s refrigerators, showering glass over all the day’s stock. The opening day of Mason Dixon ended in anything but triumph. But day two was far more successful and now, almost four years later, they have two locations in Melbourne’s CBD with plans for further expansion.

Founded in 2013, The Bearded Chap is a premium beard-care brand that produces natural, Australian made grooming products for the modern day gentleman.

Not many people can build a business out of selling old fishing nets, but somehow Danielle Clayton makes it work.

Melbourne based, Spanish at heart. Joaquin O Ponce Rodriguez started his business to bring the traditional food and wine he loves to Australia.

Before starting Melbourne Paving, brothers Nick and James Carpenter were running a residential landscaping business. They have since grown, and now manage several teams, service customers across Victoria, and have even achieved some fame, featuring on shows like The Block.

Sometimes everything just falls into place and you find an opportunity you just can’t say no to. That’s exactly what happened for husband and wife Josh Long and Melanie Evans, and before they knew it they were running their very own café.