Are You Really an Entrepreneur?

I was listed by Entrepreneur.com as one of the Top 10 Real Estate Entrepreneurs to Watch in 2023. 

A year on from then, and I’ve been thinking about what it means to be an entrepreneur…

What makes an entrepreneur an entrepreneur?

After reading my short spiel in that article, you’d probably say, “Yep, he fits the bill.” 

But for most of my life, I didn’t identify with the label.

The Status Quo belief is that most entrepreneurs:

• Go to some Ivy League school 

• Start a business in their parent’s garage

• Know the right people in fund their vision

And given this checklist, I don’t qualify.

When we think of an “entrepreneur”, we think of people like Jeff Bezos. 

A guy who went to Princeton…

Launched straight into investment banking…

And developed Amazon’s software in his garage. 

We think of Elon Musk. 

A guy who was building tech at 12… 

Who borrowed $28,000 from his dad to start his business…

Then sold two of his companies for $190 million when he was 31. 

And we think of Mark Zuckerberg. 

A guy who went to Harvard at 19…

Created Facebook from his dorm room and launched it within 2 weeks… 

Then dropped out, moved to California, and secured $12.7 million in venture capital.

These guys are the titans — the poster boys of what the Status Quo tells us an entrepreneur is…

But very few of the entrepreneurs I know have this fantasy ‘origin’ story.

Yet these stories are placed on a pedestal and seen as the rule — not the exceptions.

But there are thousands of other examples out there… 

Of people who didn’t “fit” the standard mould.

People who built something from nothing because they had a problem to solve.

People like me…

And maybe, people like you too. 

Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht — Canva

Ever heard of Canva?

Considering the graphic design platform hit 170 million users last year…

You probably have.

Canva creators, Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht, started as university students in Perth. 

Perkins spent her free time teaching students Microsoft and Adobe software.

She was fed up with how difficult graphic design was for students… 

So she decided to do something about it.  

After years of prototyping, Perkins and Obrecht created a solution: Canva.

After securing investors, they landed $3M in investments and Canva went live in 2013. 

When Perkins and Obrecht created Canva, they were students… 

But now, they are entrepreneurs breaking the Status Quo.

Ned Heaton — The Turtle Tribe

As a kid, Ned saw plastic washing up on the shores of his favourite camping spot.

He wanted to do something about it so he started volunteering at Ocean Crusaders.

The founder of Ocean Crusaders told him, “We can keep collecting plastic off this beach our whole lives, but it’ll just keep coming back.”

This was all the inspiration 11-year-old Ned needed.

He created The Turtle Tribe, a company that sells eco-friendly products to reduce ocean plastics.

Since launching in 2018, things have skyrocketed for Ned. 

Ned entered, and won, Changemaker of the Year at Be the Change awards, despite being 5 years under the age requirement.

And his parents sold their family business to work at The Turtle Tribe full-time.

When Ned created The Turtle Tribe, he was just a kid…

But now, he is an entrepreneur breaking the Status Quo.

Janine Allis — Boost Juice 

If you’ve been to Australia, you’ll know that it’s easier to spot a Boost Juice than spot a kangaroo…

And you can thank Janine Allis for that. 

When Janine took a trip to America, she noticed one thing right away: healthy fast food options. 

As a mom of 3, she was frustrated with the lack of similar options in Australia. 

So she decided to create one — Boost Juice. 

Boost Juice is the go-to chain for healthy smoothies, juices, and protein shakes.

Since its launch in 2000, Boost Juice has opened 580 stores in over 13 countries (with new franchises opening every day).

When Janine created Boost Juice, she was a mom of 3…

But now, she is an entrepreneur breaking the Status Quo. 

The Entrepreneurial Spirit

What do each of these entrepreneurs have in common?

They saw a problem and decided to fix it. 

Mel and Cliff saw how hard graphic design was.

Ned saw how much plastic was in the ocean.

Janine saw how few healthy food options there were. 

While their origin stories differ from Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos…

(They didn’t start with huge bank balances or contact books)

They all embrace the entrepreneurial spirit…

A way of thinking that embraces and drives change, rather than waiting for it. 

This is what defines an entrepreneur. 

The vision to see something that no one else can… 

And the passion to make it happen. 

Now that sounds a little more like my story… 

My Entrepreneurial Journey 

I started my first “business” at 14, running music shows at a local town hall. 

I loved it, and I was great at it. 

I loved it so much that I dropped out of high school and started planning music festivals.

I asked my parents for help, and they pulled together $10k so I could put on my own festival.

But in the end, the event ended up costing more than it made…

And I lost the full $10k (and then some.)

So, I switched gears, and moved to Melbourne to manage nightclubs.

In the depths of this environment, I became addicted to drugs and alcohol. 

That addiction cost me my health, my home, and any cent I had.

This wasn’t the legacy I wanted to leave behind. 

Then in 2018, my partner Gabi and I bought an investment property.

We had no idea what we were doing…

So we ended up buying the wrong property, in the wrong place, and the wrong time.

The result?

We lost a bunch of money. 

But because of this, we saw a huge problem in the real estate industry and created a solution: 

A service that helps people when they need it most, and technology that makes getting it wrong nearly impossible. 

That solution is Dashdot, now one of the fastest-growing companies in Australia.

The reason I’m telling this isn’t to brag. 

I’m telling you this so you can see how little my story matches the Titan stories. 

My story is messy and complex… 

It’s curvy and it’s painful…

Which is part of the reason why I never felt like I could call myself an “entrepreneur.”

Because, my journey didn’t have highlights like the Bezos bios.

It wasn’t a massive family loan to millionaire status like Musk. 

But here I am. 

So I guess after all, I am an entrepreneur. 

Redefining Entrepreneurs

If your story is dark, messy, and complicated…

If it goes against the grain of the entrepreneurial Titans like Musk or Zuckerberg…

If it breaks the Status Quo… 

It’s not something to be ashamed of. 

It’s something to be proud of. 

Because no matter where you came from, or how long it took you to get here… 

You’re here because of your lived experience. 

Your commitment and dedication. 

Your unbreakable entrepreneurial spirit. 

Mel Perkins and Cliff Obrecht, Ned Heaton, Janine Allis — all of these people, including myself, are entrepreneurs that go against the Status Quo.

We all have different stories. 

Yet we’re all, by definition, entrepreneurs.

We’ve faced problems that we wanted to solve.

We’ve created solutions that nobody before us had. 

We’ve dedicated our lives to something more.

And, at its core…

Isn’t that what makes an entrepreneur an entrepreneur?

Stay awesome, stay powerful. 

P.S: What entrepreneurs do you look up to? I’d love to hear who inspires you.