Australian Wealth Stories..(Interviews with Aussies)

[our obsession]

Delighted to find a little book that had slipped under my radar.

Australia's Wealth Creators-In-depth Interviews with our Great Entrepreneurs

From what I can tell it was put out circa 2005, features really interesting interviews with the likes of Gerry Harvey, Graham Turner, Janine Allis, Diana Williams, Collette Dinnigan, Ita Buttrose AND one of my inspirations; Jan Somers!

There are more interviews and I haven't finished reading it, plus it doesn't seem to be readily available much. If you can get your mitts on it, damn interesting read.

Small excerpt only:

From humble beginnings with three children and a single average income between her and husband Ian, Jan Somers has managed to amass a fortune in residential property.

She pioneered property investment education to the masses by writing four books.....

So there is around 7 pages of interview with her, background, being a good saver, steps into property investing, her (then) philosophy on money, goals, a bit about her properties...it's fantastic.

Graham Turner, Flight Centre guy, Diana Williams, (Fernwood), Collette Dinnigan, (Designer), dyed knickers over the kitchen stove, beloved Ita, David Bussau, (Opportunity International)...

 

[our obsession]

Janine Allis (Boost) began in Melbourne making smoothies from her house, first store was opened in Adelaide.

So contents include:

Chapter 1-Qualities and motivations of entrepreneurs

2 is Passion and Vision

3- Selecting the right people

4- Finding a Mentor

...and 14 people interviews.

Bit more from Jan Somers:

Since the age of 14, I have always worked. I came from a very average background. We never had takeaway food, all our clothes came from St Vinnies, and our holidays were in a campsite. Growing up, I never thought I'd be doing what I'm doing today. I wanted to become a veterinary doctor, so once I finished high school I completed a degree in zoology.

 

[our obsession]

I have always been a very good saver. If I earned $100, I'd save $99.95. Not because I wanted to buy property, but more because I was saving for a specific goal, such as travelling overseas............and: Buying property became more of an interest for me. It was like a hobby because I really enjoyed it.

Okay, I love this woman:

When I do something, I like to be the best I can be at it, and property investing is the same.

 

[our obsession]

Collette Dinnigan:

I wanted to be able to turn my craft into something...actually earn an income from it and make it my life.

Ita:

When I started ITA magazine, we were one of the first magazines to start investment advice for women.

Sonia Amoroso:

We had no money when we first started, so that forced us to be innovative.

Janine Allis:

Boost is based on the challenge of getting the right people. Once you've got the right people in place, everything is easy.....

Also, we don't take 'no' for an answer and we don't use the word 'try'-we just do it.

 

[our obsession]

Going to put a little more up here, this book could be difficult to get, shame, it's inspiring, diverse, still current, and an Australian-esque perspective. Not unlike our Somersoft interviews.

What should people do when looking for a property?

Jan Somers:

You should first define the purpose of the property you are looking for and base your selection criteria around that. ..........ultimate goal should be to accumulate a bunch of properties and retire upon the rent.

IF this is your purpose, then it becomes a combination of what suits the tenant and what suits your personality......There are a million and one ways to profit from property. There's buy and hold, renovation, off the plan, wrapping, cash flow positive, and negative gearing, to name a few. You must decide which tactic is best for you, and recognise where you fit in the scheme of things..........

I have a mixture of old and new, units and houses, holiday rentals and permanent residences, fifteen-bedroom places and one-bedroom places, inner city and outer suburb, so there is no one style of property that I stick to.

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Graham Turner, (Flight Centre) values the simple things in life, only extravagance is two mountain bikes, began as Top Deck travel in London, a bus tour b/w group of friends looking for a good time.

Turner talks also of being very independent, from a child, raised on the farm, learning to drive tractors...

He reads a fair bit, E-Myth, How to motivate people, being interested, learning from your mistakes, trial and error, often made the same mistake 3 or 4 times until he really learnt...having health and fitness is his real importance. He enjoys what he does, passionate. Be passionate and disciplined.

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Diana Williams, (Fernwood), had a small gym in Bendigo and went on from there. Difficult learning as she went, progressed, always been a competitive type of person, relentless desire to achieve, did a business management course. Very focussed on member service. Most difficult thing early on was keeping the business going when she was expanding the business as such a rate. Human and financial resources.

-Be able to manage people

-Be persistent

-Stay focused

 

[Rockstar]

Thanks OO, We'll be reading about you one day! Don't lose that passion for brain candy that leads to action. Still building your empire?