Female Entrepreneurship And Starting a Business 11 Days After Giving Birth
On Episode 9 of the “Future of Australia” podcast, I speak with Lauren Quaintance, the Co-Founder and CEO of Storyation a premium content marketing agency, which grew 40% last financial year, to do over $1.4mm in revenue.
This placed them on the Financial Review list of 100 fastest growing new companies in Australia, and makes them THE fastest growing content agency in Australia.
[ Click here to listen to the podcast in SoundCloud, or Listen in iTunes, or Listen in Stitcher or search " Future of Australia Podcast" in your iPhone or Android podcast app]
We Discuss...
- Deciding She Wanted to Be A Journalist When She Was 11 Years Old
- The Broad International Journey Across New Zealand, London and Australia as a Journalist for Different Media Brands and Formats
- Covering Editorial Content as Well as Commercial Revenue and Strategic Business Development at Large Media Institutions Like Fairfax
- The Linear Path As a Journalist and Fast Rise In Her 20s … Changed Abruptly By the Media Industry Disruption
- “I Wanted To Be Part of Something That Was A Growth Industry… I Did Not Want to Manage The Decline”
- How Responding to the Opportunity She Discovered Major Brands Had While Working at Fairfax Motivated Her to Decide to Start a Business
- Watching Large Brands Wanting to Become Their Own Media Platforms and Not Be Locked In
- Coming at Content Marketing From a Publishing Background, Not a Digital Marketing Agency Background
- Starting a Business As a Female Entrepreneur Even When She Had A Young Baby
- Targeting Blue Chip Corporate Clients And Building Pricing, Positioning and a Business Around That Client Base
- Swapping From a Project Basis To a Recurring Revenue Model Using Monthly Retainers
- How to Win The Trust of Major Brands When They Were Just Two Individuals Working From Their Living Room
- “We Over-delivered. We Did Whatever We Had to Do to Make Ourselves Useful to Our Clients.”
- Transitioning From A Consultancy To A Fully Fledged Business, Building an Excellent Team of Senior Editors
- Splitting Founder Responsibilities Between Head of Content and Head of Sales, Then Building Teams Under Each
- Managing a Network of 350+ Subject Matter Expert Content Creators
- Being an Evangelist For Good Content, Giving Speeches Around The World
- The Major Misunderstanding of Brands Wanting to Hire Freelance Writers Directly
- The Unacknowledged Role of the Editor and How Their Editors Ensure The Writing Is On Brand and Connects With the Audience
- The Balance Between Creative Expression, and the Editor’s Role to “Murder” Parts That Do Not Advance the Client’s Goals
- The Opportunity for Top Media Companies To Specialise In High End Quality Content To Combat the Massive Drop in Online Engagement
- Doing Fewer Things Really Well Instead of Trying to Be a Media Company to Everyone
- The Mistake Of Chasing Page Impressions and Volume Rather Than A Subscriber Model Focused on Quality
- The Lack of Large Australian Businesses Founded in Recent Years, and Why Australian Entrepreneurship May Not Be Doing as Well as in the USA
- How Australian and New Zealanders Have a Cultural Underpinning for Entrepreneurship, But Why There is Still a Woefully Small Number of Female Founders
- Why Being a Female Founder and Mother is Not an Obstacle to Succeeding
- Treating Your Company As a “Part Time Business” Can Stop It From Progressing Because You Don’t Throw Your Full Self Behind It and Other Common Issues Female Founders Face
- “Be Prepared For Change...Be Ready To Use Your Skills in Different Ways” And Other Advice She Would Give the 20 Year Old Version of Herself
- The Value in Public Speaking and Forcing Yourself to Clarify Your Thoughts, Skills and Communication
- Having Multiple Skillsets Being Of Crucial Importance For Young Content Creators and Embracing the Diversity
- Being a Creative With a CEO Father and Accountant Brother and Liking the Intersection of Finance, Creative and Strategy
- Looking at The Future of Content Production, and the Focus on High Volume, Low Cost Video Production Across Social Channels Instead of One Million Dollar Ad on TV
[ Click here to listen to the podcast in SoundCloud, or Listen in iTunes, or Listen in Stitcher or search " Future of Australia Podcast" in your iPhone or Android podcast app]
Podcast Episode History:
Episode 1: "Family Business & Real Estate: How Husband and Wife QLD Entrepreneurs Found A Gap in The Market"
Episode 2: "Law & Accounting Firm A.I and Automation + Doubling Revenue TWICE in 12 Months"
Episode 3: "Expat Entrepreneurship & Maximising Your Marketing Dollars"
Episode 4: "Turning a Hobby Selling Quirky Gifts Online Into a Multi-Million Dollar Business"
Episode 5: "Owning 20+ Properties In His 20s to Buying 40 Per MONTH for Clients"
Episode 6: "Engineering Entrepreneurship and Managing BILLION Dollar Assets"
Episode 7: "One Day Away From Shutting Down to 1000% Annual Growth"
Episode 8: "From Losing Your Co-Founder to 59% Growth the Next Year"
Hi, my name is Derek. "FUTURE OF AUSTRALIA" is a project I am running to interview the Founders, CEOs and Entrepreneurs behind the fastest growing businesses in Australia. These interviews will be turned into podcast episodes, as well as articles.
"FUTURE OF AUSTRALIA" is about interviewing, celebrating and sharing the knowledge, aspirations, struggles, goals and achievements of these people with a broader audience.
If you are interested in contributing, learning more of keeping in the loop with our updates and email newsletter, email me at [email protected], or give me a call or text on 0404 689 897.