We are very excited to present our final 2021 Evolve program, our National Evolve cohort.
The program kicked off in October with a group of sixteen talented founders. We are looking forward to supporting them as they take their business to the next level.
Hey Lemonade
Lucy is one of Australia’s most well-known leading ladies with major roles to her credit including in Netflix hits Sisters and The Letdown, as a judge on Australia’s Got Talent and onstage nationally as Glinda in Wicked, Princess Fiona in Shrek and Elle Woods in Legally Blonde for which she won a Helpmann and Sydney Theatre Award.
Elise is a Helpmann and Sydney Theatre Award-winning actor most well known for playing Miss Honey in Matilda the Musical and Peter Allen’s sister Lynne Woolnough in miniseries Peter Allen, Not The Boy Next Door. For screen, Elise has worked as a producer, dramaturge and creative content developer both locally and Internationally.
Hey Lemonade’s goal is to tackle smaller mental health issues before they become bigger. Through their clean and classy app, they provide pragmatic and uplifting 2-3 minute pep talks to circuit break everyday life stresses. Their talks are delivered in smart colloquial language, created by expert writers, all provided in a variety of diverse voice options so you can tailor how you best hear support and all under 3 minutes in duration. They target specific moments that are not exactly ‘serious’ serious, but serious to you, like “When you need a Gee Up before a big meeting”, “When you’re feeling bleurgh” or “When the people you live with are driving you nuts”. The Hey Lemonade app is designed to provide a smarter and faster alternative way to attain support, build resilience and nip everyday problems in the bud, preventing smaller stresses from becoming bigger!
Sage is a 24-year-old entrepreneur and Le Labo perfume enthusiast. She is currently finishing her degree in Media and Communications at the University of Melbourne and is eager to apply what she has learned in a commercial environment. She shares a love for all things ‘start-up’ and female empowerment, and between studies, you’ll find her running her business, winding down by jamming out with her band or doing hot Pilates.
Alyssa is a 24-year-old who is on a mission to make a difference. She is studying a Juris Doctorate while running Peach Pack, passionate about using business and the law as a tool to create change. You may find her engrossed in a good book, spending time with loved ones, having a good DnM with her best friend (fellow co-founder Sage) or out and about hitting Melbourne’s yummiest restaurants.Peach Pack is a sexual wellness brand centralised on destigmatising typically taboo topics- periods, sex, masturbation, consent, and so much more. The two best friends initially launched the brand in 2018 to dismantle the negative stigma associated with menstruation, all while offering a luxury and practical period pack delivery service to consumers. However, the pair have decided to focus their time and energy on launching a podcast with Acast this year called, Preach the Peach.
Srividhya holds a bachelor’s degree in Engineering from Anna University. With experiences from overseas in acquisition editing, content management and digital marketing, she migrated to Australia in 2018 and now manages two companies. Apart from this, she is also a writer by passion, and she has written 2 books.
VR AR Solutions Australia aims in creating innovative tech solutions that are customized to the organisation’s needs using immersive technologies such as VR, AR and MR. They are a group of young and passionate minds who aspire to make Australia the World’s Creative Hub. Her in-house team consists of unique minds from the industry including gamers, designers, programmers, process specialists, quality consultants and many more.
It has always been a goal of Faye to make a difference no matter how big or small that is. Since leaving Quebec, Canada, Faye have forged her own path and never shied away from facing and overcoming personal and professional challenges.
In 2019, she launched Walk-In, a fashion rental marketplace enabling brands and retailers to be involved in the growing ‘share economy’, which is how InPack was born. InPack is a sustainable shipping mailer with personality. A multi-functional and reusable package that is personalised to suit the aesthetic of our brand partner while being exclusively eco-friendly. Let’s unpack the possibilities and experience sustainability because helping the environment never goes out of fashion.
Fit As FX
With over 20 years in the Fitness Industry and running her own gym since 2014 Kelly can honestly say it is her passion. She has an extensive background in strength and conditioning coaching, body sculpting, boxing, and martial arts, along with pre and postpartum rehab, nutrition, and much more. Innovation is a huge motivator for her to bring new concepts to my business whilst making sure she delivers current and proven methods to gain my clients the best outcome.
Kelly has 3 children, and her family moved to coastal Victoria a few years ago and found their happy place by the beach.
Launched Fit As FX, her pop up gym, only a month ago, and she looks forward to bringing a new concept to the ever-changing Fitness Industry.
AllergyFoodies
Lillee spent the last 9 years working in capital advisory and relationship management roles at private equity and leading institutional banks in Australia. She has really serious food allergies (anaphylaxis) to nuts, seafood and fish. However Lillee is very social, and absolutely love lunch dates and dinner parties! Finding places that are suitable to eat at can be super frustrating for both friends, family, and in particular, me.
She is totally excited to bring AllergyFoodies to the community, to help people to find and enjoy allergy-friendly restaurants and products. AllergyFoodies is a platform to match users with restaurants and products that cater to allergies and dietary preferences.
The Seventh Wave
Christina is an energetic, customer-centred, values-based business leader with extensive experience in services marketing and category management. A commercially astute, strategic executive with 18 years of corporate experience delivering a variety of products and services to diverse arrays of customer segments including youth, consumer, SME and enterprise customers. Since 2012 she has enjoyed augmenting the joys of managing her family by applying her skills to assist a variety of businesses from micro to large.
The Seventh Wave is a purpose-driven digital platform bringing together the community players (consumer, business, and NFP) to empower and accelerate climate action to the mainstream.
Glace Kitchen Corporation
Christy Tania is an internationally acclaimed pastry and dessert chef. Widely known for her appearances on MasterChef and other TV shows in Australia, Christy is considered one of the most respected pastry experts in the industry. Famous for her whimsical-meets-elegance creations, she continues to push the boundaries of Australia's Pastry scene.
In 2017, Christy started her own business, GLACÉ Dessert Artisanal in Melbourne which quickly expanded into multiple shops. It is currently highly regarded as one of the leading Pastry/ Dessert providers in Australia.
Former “First Class” columnist for the Australian Financial Review, Jacquie is a 30-year career newspaper journalist turned businesswoman. After testing and reporting on some of the world’s finest cars, she discovered a micro-niche in appreciating how many women lacked confidence when buying a car, or had sub-optimal experiences on the car showroom floor when doing so.
She created Madam Wheels to address those issues by helping women take control as they negotiate one of the most expensive purchases of their lives. More recently she rolled out a training program for car salesmen to help them provide exceptional experiences to women car buyers.
Jacquie is also a keynote speaker and panellist who shares her in-depth knowledge of women as the world’s most important consumer market.
Bluemorph Media
Gina has worked at the forefront of several emerging industries during her 20+ years in IT. From implementing eCommerce for early adopters aiming to be the first to market in the 1990’s, to establishing a deregulated telecommunications industry in Australia, she was sought after by companies wanting to forge new markets.
Following this, she worked as a natural birth advocate supporting women during pregnancy and birth. During this time, she established one of the first online Wellness community businesses in Australia in 2010. After moving to Melbourne just prior to lockdown, she now runs a content marketing business, and she still likes Melbourne! VeryWell ThankYou is her current wellness project which helps people to develop and maintain unconditional peace and wellbeing.
Menopause Specialist
Menopause Specialist is a Melbourne based company founded by Dr Fatima Khan MBBS, BSc, DRCOG, MRCGP, FRACGP. Fatima is a leading Menopause Expert-based at Epworth Hospital Richmond with a holistic approach to women's physical, emotional and mental health & wellbeing. Her vision as a menopause specialist is to provide hormone-free digital solutions, education and community support to women transitioning through the perimenopause and menopause journey.
Catherine Gomersall is an artist and researcher currently deep-diving into blockchain and NFTs, leading her team of consultants at Delame and Co. She is a PhD in Communications with a varied background in academia, startups and the community sector.
By day Jessica works as the Head of Commercial Operations at the Australian Olympic Committee and the Director of Partner Servicing and Fulfilment at global sports agency Sportfive.
Jessica brings her lifelong sporting passionate and a career of commercial sports together to create a launch Sport Huddle – a connector for Sports Organisations and Sports Industry Experts to streamline the industry to find economies of scale. With over 20 years commercial experience her career has included; the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, and as Director of Corporate Partnerships for the British Olympic Association in the lead up to the London 2012, etc.
Esmeralda holds a Bachelor’s in Business Administration specializing in Tourism and Hospitality management. Armed with experience working in large hospitality venues in the event and sales space, customer service is part of her DNA. At the beginning of 2021, she left her growing role in a dynamic international event management company and took the entrepreneurial leap to start Chefly. Chefly is the first of its kind mobile marketplace for diners to seamlessly find, directly connect and easily hire local culinary professionals to cater for any occasion at any location. With a strong interest in innovation and a focus on social impact, Chefly solved a problem for both diners and chefs while supporting and empowering local communities. Their focus is on improving the lives of chefs, clients, and the community. Esmeralda is driven and determined to use all her skills to make Chefly a great success story.
Learn more about the SBE Evolve Program here.
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