Liz Nable 0:00
If you haven't heard of buy from the bush, you're an Australian. Well, not really, but almost buy from the bush is arguably one of the biggest social movements and public buying campaigns Australians have witnessed in the last decade, and it all started on Canva. From a kitchen table in a country farmhouse in central west New South Wales. Australians will never forget the distressing images of dying sheep, starving cattle and vast stretches of hundreds of kilometres of bone dry paddocks once lush with green grass dams filled to the brim and a copious amount of crops became a dust bowl of brown dirt.
Grace Brennan 0:41
Three years of no rain crippled rural Australia, both its farms and their families and the towns that held them together. The knock on effects had a devastating impact on everything from small businesses in town to the mental health of farmers and their families. Grace Brennan, a city girl by birth, and more recently, a country girl by marriage lived in the heart of drought stricken New South Wales, just near a little town called Warren, a little over an hour west of Dubbo. By her own admission, she was pretty useless on the farm in a practical sense, even at the best of times, but watching the drought slowly bleed the soul of her community dry and many farmers literally lose their will to live. One day in late 2019. Grace decided to do something about it.
Liz Nable 1:31
She whipped up a logo in Canva and set up an Instagram account called buy from the bush. But then left to go to lunch with some girlfriends. She just wasn't sure about pressing the Go button and thought her idea was possibly just silly. But lunch was grim. At least three friends spoke of the real risk of suicide in and amongst people they knew and loved. Grace knew then, even if her idea did turn out to be silly. This was a very serious situation. She went home and sent the account to her friends and family and ask them to help support her roommates in small business by doing a Christmas shopping online in the bush that year. And as we all know now, the rest is history. Three days later, Grace found herself on the Today Show 30 days later, she had 100,000 followers on the buy from the bush Instagram account. And that Christmas, Australia Post reported a 30% increase in deliveries from rural businesses to city areas. I mean, is that not just insane? Nearly three years on the dust has certainly settled and yes, it has rained. Ironically, it's rained, and rained, and rained. But how has Grace kept buying from the bush relevant long after the drought broke? How has she made the most of those opportunities, and even created new ones by making the business a commercial enterprise? And why has the BF TB campaign evolved into such a mainstay of Australians lives? This is one of my favourite chats so far this year. Please bear with us as we battle an unstable internet connection at times. And enjoy the moment I discovered one of my kids. Yes, we're on school holidays here had pulled out the connection cord of my podcast mic to plug in their iPad. Yep, the joys of running a business with kids around a sound like I'm interviewing grace from a large empty hall. But other than that, a cracking episode. So enjoy.
Hello, I'm Liz Nable. And you're listening to Nable My Business, The Podcast. When I first started in small business almost 10 years ago, I had no idea what I was getting into. You see my background was in the media. I had spent 15 years as a television news journalist and reporter working at several major networks in Australia. And then as a freelancer in the US and around the world. I spent years dividing my time between working long shifts on a news desk and travelling the world chasing stories. It was unpredictable and exciting. Until it wasn't anymore. I decided I wanted a life where I was in charge of what happened next. And when I was working to build my own empire, not someone else's. I also never wanted to work a midnight new shift again. Now, I don't have to. There was a lot I had to learn about running my own business. But one thing I already had in the bag was how to get media coverage and free PR. I knew what the media wanted. I knew the secret formula for what made us and I knew how to leverage those organisations to build my business, get more exposure and ultimately make more sales. During my decade of building my business, I have managed to get featured in almost every major news outlet in the country. I'd been interviewed on television countless times had personal profiles written up in women's magazines, done point of view pieces for large newspapers and be listed in top 100 List
Are women in business and in my industry, and I've never spent a single cent on PR. I took that knowledge for granted. Until it dawned on me one day that I could teach what I knew to other businesses, let them in on the secret. And they too could build their businesses, leveraging the media and gaining free PR. They could use my insights in the industry and my behind the scenes experience and take their business from Best Kept Secret to well known brand simply by following my formula. Welcome to enable my business, the podcast.
Hi Grace, welcome to Nable My Business. It's so excited to have you on the show today. Thanks, Liz. Thanks for having me. I know we've worked out over the course of of getting you to agree to meet inquiring for you to to appear on the show that we actually went to school to get not together, but we went to the same school in Sydney. I know.
Today, I feel like we need a bit of a debrief. I know I know. So I think you're younger than me by a few years. You've got sisters older and younger to me as well. So it's a small world. So obviously, buy from the bush is we were just talking about this before we hit record record was a massive kind of social movement and campaign to support small business at the peak of the drought. And I know you've told this story at nauseam, I'm going to ask you to tell me again, tell me a bit about how buy from the Bush came to fruition and that story about how it came to be?
Grace Brennan 6:39
Yes, so I live on a farm in western New South Wales, in a place called Warren and my husband's a farmer, my friends are all farmers. And we were in about a third year of drought. And things were, you know, as bad as they got really.
And so I was in that kind of, I suppose I'm a city girl, I had gone through this,
this experience of a prolonged drought before. And I was twiddling my fingers a little bit wondering what the hell I could do. It's it's a, if you haven't lived through it, it's a feeling of complete helplessness because you're waiting on rain, it's so out of your control. You kind of I don't work on the farm. Unless I'm you know, unless there's an emergency. So I was every now and again, I was kind of helping with feeding but for the most part, it's Jack experiencing this, this awful day in day out.
Relentless kind of misery, you know why? And I was seeing in the news, the drought was kind of trending, it was becoming at least it was you know, making the headlines, but always in this two dimensional way around, you know, a farmer in the paddock.
Dying sheep, quite simplistic.
And I suppose I wondered how those images and that that narrative was going to connect with people in the city and in a way that made them understand what was at stake, because what I was seeing was that this community I lived in, was kind of under threat by
by this drought, you know, businesses were really suffering small businesses, bricks and mortar stores, the local kind of boutique owner would would not refresh his stock because of course, people weren't going in because cash flow was drying up. And you know, school fundraisers were cancelled. Because people were buying tickets. And there was just this feeling of a collective. I'm gonna say depression in the sense that all the energy was sucked out of sucked out of us. And so I thought if we're only seeing the man in the potty, kind of doesn't allow people to understand the impact that that the drought has on small businesses on households, particularly on women who are often kind of carrying those households. And I was also seeing a lot of women and small business owners hustling really hard to diversify and creating alternative income streams because the income wasn't there on farm. So amazing things were happening around me. At the same time, that there was this kind of depressing reality. And so I just thought that maybe an Instagram account called by from the bush might end with a simple call to action to ask my friends in the city to do their Christmas shopping in the bush. And basically, we I just knew a handful of beautiful businesses around me and I started to share their content on Instagram and then I'd start to message others in, you know, towns further afield and say, Is it okay if I share your content and let people know that they can shop with you? So it was kind of a pretty simple idea. But it was a way of, of connecting customers with these pretty brilliant businesses that were that were experiencing a really challenging time, but also tell a more nuanced and layered story of what happens in drought and also celebrate the cool stuff and the cool people that are in rural and regional Australia. So it started as an Instagram account and it and it took off pretty quickly after that we kind of as it grew, I suppose there was a greater opportunity to tell a bigger story and get more people involved. And, and so, you know, it went from there.
Liz Nable 10:42
And I know, I heard one of the other podcasts I listen to you speak on you, you mentioned that you, you know, sat down at your kitchen bench, and you had created the buy from the Porsche logo and sort of set up the Instagram account, which takes what 20 or 30 minutes or something? And then you've gone to lunch, is that right?
Grace Brennan 11:02
Yeah, yeah. So why was I was do it. I was at my friend's house. And I heard this radio interview that morning. You know, my, my family had sent me a link saying you should listen to this, because they're talking about the drought. And I listened. And it was between the prime minister and a journalist, and it was just this really combative interview, you know, the journalist was saying, What are you doing about the drought, you're not doing enough. And the Prime Minister was trying to justify, you know, these policy decisions and these these funding packages, but all of it was missing the point. Like it felt like people were in a, in a, emotionally and psychologically, they were kind of in a desperate state. And they weren't really discussing the lived experience of drought at all. So it was it was almost even though, you know, funding and policies is pretty critical. It felt redundant at that moment. So I started writing a letter to kind of say, hey, but you've missing it, you know, you're missing the point. And then I thought the letter was, you know, who was letter to? What was I going to do with the letter? Yeah, that's ridiculous.
Liz Nable 12:10
Yeah, who's gonna write
Grace Brennan 12:11
it? Nobody? And what am I asking for? Like, that? Was the also the thing. So hang on. But what do I want them to know? And what do I want them to do about it? So that's why I went to the Canva into creating a logo and selling an Instagram account. And then I went to a friend's house and and I told her about it said, I've got this idea, would you join to help me? And so she said, Yes. and the next minute, like I was, you know, requesting her friendship on the
Liz Nable 12:42
beauty of social media, see it is good for some reasons.
Grace Brennan 12:45
Exactly. It's just like, watch. Like, from idea to reality. That was a big. Yeah. And then we went to, to lunch the next day, and I kind of, we were all sitting around, and we were talking about it. And between, like, in the in that 24 hours, I think that had three people reference suicide. And I thought, you know, how you kind of wonder whether it's a silly, like, it's a pretty silly ID, but there's not much, I'll only tell a couple of people and there's nothing to lose. And then I was sitting at this lunch table, I think, well, actually, I'm going to start telling people because we're going to if we may as well have a bit of a crack. So I kind of awkwardly tell a couple of people at the lunch table, and they kind of laugh and think, okay, yeah, like, what are you going to do with this? Yeah, and I don't know. But then the next day, the same person kind of sent me a screenshot with 100 followers on our Instagram account, just like okay, 100 fellows in 24 hours. That's pretty great.
Liz Nable 13:42
Pretty good. And have you met with anyone yet?
Grace Brennan 13:45
Yes, I got a couple of Yes, I have? Well, no, I started with the logo that I did, I must have put up, I knew that I needed to get some content up so that when people landed on the page, they kind of got a feel for what it was. So I had already asked, I had checked out an IGA earlier that day and asked the checkout girl if I could feature her earrings, because I knew. And, and I can't remember what I started with, but they were just they were local businesses. And, you know, anyway, so it just really immediately because I was really explicit in saying, Please, can you share these Can you tell your friends, can you none of us had any skin in the game? We were just asking for people to engage in and, you know, come along for the ride in a way. Yeah. And it arrived at just the right time when people were looking for a way to help and, and obviously, now, I know, we launched on the I think it was the 16th of October. And now I know that mid October is a pretty perfect time to launch Christmas campaign. Oh, yeah, but that was fortuitous.
Liz Nable 15:02
Wow. I think I mean, look, I do think whether you did it deliberately or accidentally, that was sort of serendipitous or whatever. I do remember as a as a city as a city gal, I remember seeing the pictures, you know, on the news, it was everywhere. And, you know, even in the city that were water restrictions, and or, you know, obviously, nothing into the city, but of the country, but you still it's still on front of mind. And I remember thinking, the problem with charity is that a lot of people are fatigued by charity donations, and they feel like, it's really get to the people that they want it to get to this admin fee that doesn't, you know, doesn't always make you feel like you're solving a problem instantaneously. And that's a great feeling to feel like, you can go and purchase a pair of earrings. And you know, it's directly going to that person.
Grace Brennan 15:55
Yes, exactly. Yes. And I also think there's something that having grown up in the city, I know that feeling of, am I meant to, like, When can I ask if it's rained? Or if it hasn't? Is the rain good? Or is the rain bed? How do I like what does this mean? What does this dry weather mean? For farmers, you want it like you care, but you don't quite know how to help. And so it was very deliberate, to be for this campaign to be really inclusive, in the sense that we weren't, we weren't saying, look how tough we've got it, you guys have got to help us. We'd love you to see what we're doing. Enjoy it. And if you want to buy it, buy it, like it's will tell you about our lives. And if you think you're interested in you're engaged in it appeals to you, please like it, and buy it and share it. And so, I think because I think sometimes a campaign that is in solidarity with something can sometimes exclude people just by, you know, by people not feeling like they understand or not feeling like they have anything to offer, or not feeling like they're the right people to help in that moment. Like I see things that I think are amazing on social media crop up and grow. And it almost passes me by because I don't quite know how I can engage in it, if it doesn't have direct kind of, you know, direct relation to me. So we were very much trying to include people in this experience of drought of living in a small community of the brilliance of that form of it. And asking them, you know, I always say, you know, it was as simple as see it, like it, buy it, and when you buy it, these are the incredible flow on effects that you will have. And as you say, Absolutely. But the charity thing. I mean, this was before, before bushfires and COVID. But I already thought then that we were charity fatigue, and that people, you know, it was hard, it's hard. Charity is hard for it for most households, really. So you've got to be offering something of value. And it
Liz Nable 18:13
needs to feel like for the for the business owner in you know, in this case in your original small business owner that they're doing something for that transaction, because then it's not charity, then they're providing a product or service and it's being paid for just like it would normally and they're you know, they feel there's satisfaction on both ends, that person has been growing their business and the customer is getting a product or service that I bought that I love.
Grace Brennan 18:38
And that was that is the whole point that I mean, as Heidi from Castle & and Co she's a fashion designer, slow fashion designer from Boorowa. She wrote to me once and said, our community won't survive on charity, it'll survive on good business. And then she kind of put towards exactly what we were trying to do, which, which was long term, sustainable support for rural communities. And I think, you know, she referenced the kind of sausage sizzle fundraiser not being enough for us to thrive into the future. And I think if we're really going to be serious about these communities out here having a diverse and layered future, then I think we need to, to foster that connection between customer and business. And at that time, part of the benefit, like we were growing our followers, so that these small businesses would grow their followers. So people were reporting, you know, 5000 increase followers in a week sort of thing that we're doing really well. You know, if that was a business that had an amazing social media presence already, they just needed we were just introducing a new audience to them. And then, as I remembered doing radio interviews at the time, and getting a glimpse of, you know, journalists eyes kind of glazing over when I started to talk about follower numbers. But what I had to explain was that those followers are warm leads for these going, like when buy from the bush dies, these small businesses will have 5000 new followers and new customers that might want to engage with them long term. And I suppose two and a half years on that's, that's what I've seen, I've seen those businesses take that new audience and new customer base, and really, you know, use it to grow their business, that's probably what was the most exciting part of it. And it's really
Liz Nable 20:41
an probably serendipitous in a way to change the landscape. And of the way Australians particularly for example, I'm thinking, just from my experience, in my mind, the way we shop, as it was changing any way, introduction of being able to, you know, buy, what does it look tap and buy or whatever. It really kind of worked beautifully. And then, you know, to increase the reach for these small businesses in country towns dramatically. Like that's a game changer. 5000 followers, if you're, you know, if that's his business, that's a huge, huge leg up in a country town.
Grace Brennan 21:24
Absolutely. And I even remember, it was at a time when you couldn't get the swipe up linking stories until you had 10,000 followers. And I remember somebody like messaging me saying, Please, I just need the 10. Because, of course, to get the swipe up link meant that people would shop with you like, it's such a fundamental kind of scale up. Benchmark, or what's the word kind of eat allows that business to, to naturally scale up, if they allow the customer to go, Hey, here's something incredible, just tap here and buy it. But without that they couldn't get it. So I remember watching these businesses, they were like flooring, the 10,000 booths. And it was such a, like a, it sounds. It sounds like it's something fluffy. And yet, it was so fundamental and so important. At a time when we needed to draw outside eyeballs, and we couldn't rely on foot traffic. These local communities weren't to sustain these businesses. So every urban customer meant that that business would survive, you know, through the drought. And I think I'm kind of jumping around a bit, but but as you as you said that around the trend of you know, shopping with purpose and supporting Australian small business, and I think that that one of the things that we were talking about before we press record was the idea of, of the story that you tell. And one of the things that we have done it by from the bush is in order to remain relevant and to you know, foster connections with corporate organisations or, you know, clients customers. I have kind of intentionally tried to contextualise this, what started as a very simple social media campaign to support drought affected communities. Kind of extending that story. So starting by saying, Oh, hang on, but we're not just drought relief, we're about long term sustainable support for rural communities. And then, you know, if I'm talking with a corporate, I kind of expand that a bit more and say, within the context of a trend, you know, global trend towards shopping with purpose and shopping with impact, we can be that platform that that facilitates that. And I think that sorry, to fast forward the conversation a little bit. But I think that that has been a really important part of allowing this business and campaign to grow beyond that initial kind of groundswell of support.
Liz Nable 24:09
Absolutely, because and that is very clever, and not clever in a cunning way. But it's true, there is a there's a push to purchase with purpose and away from the generic brands that are owned by shareholders. And you know, they've always got their place and they serve a different purpose in the market, but that's absolutely correct. And that actually was going to be my next question is you've turned a business that was essentially like a, I guess, like a movement to support you know, rural and regional small business which is so your business was almost a business in itself except it was not for profit for for infancy. And then not only have you had to evolve that business to create more longevity in the market, but it's no longer a not for profit, is that right? It's now commercial. A business. Exactly, yeah.
Grace Brennan 25:01
So about a year into, by from the bush, we, I mean, we knew fairly early on that what we were doing was pretty unsustainable in terms of just the sheer hours. Because it was so successful, we had this unusual challenge of having success before having a business
well, there is problems associated. And one of them is that we were working for nothing. And at a certain point, every household needs to kind of weigh up. Well, we need to, you know, if you weren't doing this, you'd be off trying to earn an income. So yeah, because you think it's important. So we launched a, the first thing I did, actually was to, in the wake of COVID. So the first round of COVID lockdowns we launched, stain the bush as a website, and instead of, you know, making it all for free for people to subscribe, that was my first point where I was I said, This can't be for free, people are gonna have to pay to be listed. And, you know, to list on the website means that you'll get access to the social media account, and channel. So that came first. But then we partnered with PayPal, and launched a online marketplace later in 2020. So for Christmas in October 2020. So it's a year on, and we launched this marketplace that would allow us to draw both commission and a fee for like subscribers in order to draw revenue into the business.
Liz Nable 26:49
Yeah, wow, that's some and how happy that guy when you launch that
Grace Brennan 26:54
pretty brilliantly, actually. So PayPal had been a sponsor early on. And when I say we had success, we had a multitude of cooperations, individuals, organisations wanting to offer their some of them were were really pragmatic offers of support and resources. And others were obviously wanting to attach themselves to a good news story. And so it was filtering out the best of those opportunities that we're going to achieve the greatest impact for small business. And so early on, Pay Pal, one of the organisations we worked with to create some symbols for that original Christmas. Like, as soon as we launched, basically, they came on board, and we built a landing page before we even had a website and, and it was there was no financial benefit to us, it was just kind of helping us gain reach. So then, when we did transition into to kind of a revenue generating model, we went with PayPal again, because we'd had such a positive working experience early on. And so what that meant was that was still just Mark Milley and I working together. So it was two of us and this big beast of a it was very funny at times, it'd be 16 people on the Zoom call, as we planned this launch of the marketplace, but we built it kind of faster than they ever built one before and launch with more businesses and more products than they'd ever launched with before. This is software that we engage this platform that we engaged to build out. So we had this fantastic support from PayPal. But we also worked incredibly hard, because we knew we needed to have it in the market for Christmas. And as a result, we launched with all sorts of problems like it was so far from seamless. But I remember the day when we so we had a landing page website so that people could kind of browse the businesses but not shop on there. And we kept the same URL, but switched over to the marketplace on a particular day. And because my browser had saved that old website, I kept trying to access the new like we went live and I couldn't let it get. But on my phone, I was getting notifications of sales. And I was like, Oh my God, what's going on here? So we had we had, you know, as soon as we went live, we were getting customers buying from us, which I just know, having been in small business before buy from Bush, just how unusual that is to, you know, for customers just to arrive and start shopping with you before we even openly launched the business. And so yeah, what I was saying was it wasn't seamless. There were all sorts of you know, it was pretty clunky. And yet it really did its job but we got it in the market. We've had a great Christmas trade. The businesses benefited enormously From having this marketplace, and we had one of the things I was kind of wanting to, to achieve by partnering with somebody like Pay Pal was that resourcing and support in terms of marketing and, and reach. So we had some enormous kind of CO marketing opportunities through Christmas. Which really, you know, it set us up well for for a great launch. Wow.
Liz Nable 30:27
I mean, the more you talk, the more in my mind and my mind is racing, I'm like, I'm fascinated to like, it's just such a huge chunk to bite off in terms of doing the company like Pay Pal from the vision bets on a farm in Warren with one other person, and by all these execs, to me, it's just It blows my mind how you've managed to do all that and have the kids and run a farm
Grace Brennan 30:49
like, it's, we were literally million I would be I'd have August on my, like breastfeeding, and not even hiding it from the camera with the developer got used to my nipple. She built my website, Oh, well. We also like really early on as well had Facebook, got in touch with us and said, We want to help you. And the girl who called me actually said, Listen, you're gonna think I'm a fraud. Everybody always does. But I actually am a person, I actually worked with Facebook, and we actually want to help you. And I was like, Okay, let's have a meeting. And so they came, they came on board to help us, you know, in, they wanted to, one of the things I asked for was capacity building opportunities for small businesses. So they said, Okay, we can bring trainers out when you want them. And then they gave me some ad credit. And they put me in touch with a creative agency to help with an ad campaign. So I, the reality of this thing was within like, a couple of weeks, I was having these meetings with digital agencies and planning ad campaigns, which really was so far from, as you said, the kitchen table project. And quite quickly, you know, had to be really clear on what we wanted and articulate exactly why we were doing what we were doing and the impact that we were trying to achieve. And the messaging and all of those things that you need to decide when you're doing ad campaigns are all of those things I wouldn't have done until much further down the track when I you know, in a normal business, you wait, you start to make some money, and then you start to invest in these things. So it was it was the steepest learning curves. But it also meant that there was no time for self doubt, or kind of fluffiness. And if somebody was taking advantage of us, which, you know, a couple of times, it definitely felt like a big, you know, big corporate was trying to take advantage I had to turn down, you know, kind of say no, the deal's off, and that kind of thing. So, it was in a very unusual experience. But one that empowered me to be a bit more kind of self serving, in the sense of trying to get the best for buy from the bush that I possibly could, as opposed to you know, I think if you're acting out of if you're, you know, in a typical situation, I'd come from a start up before by from the bush. And if we had just had one of those people on the phone line with me, I would have been doing anything, they asked me to be like, you want me to do that? I'll do that, you know? Because, yes, but it was this unusual position where I could say, No, that's not going to work for me, because I wasn't even, you know what, there was no money for me. So I could just say, well, that's not going to do what I want it to do so
Liz Nable 33:51
because it was a real, because it wasn't a business. That was it. There was no purpose to make profit in the beginning. Very different journey or mindset to what normally a business owner would have. When you start a business or you start out in business.
Grace Brennan 34:10
Yes. And even down to the like, I remember, one of the organisations came to me with like creative a campaign. And it was all this stock imagery that just didn't feel Australian or didn't feel like the bush at all. And now I kind of I think it's kind of funny that I was bold enough to do this, but I immediately did not sorry, that, you know, we can't run with that. How does she think she is I'm pleased? Exactly, exactly. Can you imagine? What I did also what it did also do was I think in a way they wanted to tap into something super authentic. That was the whole that's that was our value proposition. So it was kind of up to me to tell them what is authentic and what's not. And if you're going to launch a campaign, how about you use regional creatives to do
Liz Nable 35:02
it close to the product in the people before you stock footage. So the things that I was going to ask you, you told me about that Facebook opportunity and Pay Pal approaching you, all those opportunities brought to you by did Facebook, just say, hey, these guys are killing it on Facebook, they've got heaps of followers and lots of engagement, we can approach them. Do you know how they came to be calling you on your phone?
Grace Brennan 35:26
Yeah, pretty much. Yeah, it was because it was just, well, actually, I should say. A couple of things. I think PR for us, was so successful at getting the word out that, that we got people interested without having to kind of knock on doors. So they were seeing us in the news, and then following us and then kind of under, you know, then then getting in contact, because they've heard a bit about us. But then the other thing I would say is that in every every partnership opportunity that we have, that has been productive for us, I should say, it's often been like one or two people driving it at from from, you know, no matter how big the organisation is, if one or two people have engaged with our campaign or seen maybe seen something I've done or seen a news article, and they believe in, in what we're doing and kind of connect with it, then it's been one or two people driving it internally in their organisation and pushing for it to get across the line. So that's, you know, it's been a bit of a learning because sometimes I have, like, I probably lean towards relationship building, maybe more than say, number crunching, and like, often some of those soft things that you think may be a bit of a waste of time. But upon reflection, one of the things I think I'll take out of this experience is that developing those positive working relationships with people and really having trust has absolutely paid off more than having a really compelling, you know, forecasted budget, for example. I'd love to rewind
Liz Nable 37:17
a little bit do obviously doing what I do.
Unknown Speaker 37:22
So annoying, is silly.
Liz Nable 37:23
I love that just you know, you're the expert here. So I want you to talk about whatever you want to talk about. I would love to ask you about the media and PR stuff, because obviously that's what I help people do with their business. But before I ask you about that, we got to 100 followers on Instagram on like, the first day or so can you give me some sort of quantifiable? first few weeks about how it blew up? Like it did blow up? It like broke the internet in a way in Australia, particularly? What did it look like a in terms of followers in terms of the businesses? Could you do they do you have any steps on, you know, what kind of sales people were making? Or what kinds of differences it was making in these businesses, you know, lives and to the bottom lights?
Grace Brennan 38:12
Yeah, so those 100 followers in the first day with family and friends, basically. And then, within the first week, I think we had a say, let's say, God, really, really has heard me talking. And he's passing me because one of the things I used to do was mark every milestone in followers. See that? Yes, I saw that. So we in the first week, we got 10,000 followers, I can just see. Yes. And then 100,000 In the first month. I remember that stat. And it kept growing beyond like I have done so one of the things we did with meta was to do a economic impact report, which we did four months into the campaign. And so I've got some kind of key data around. So by February 2020, we had generated in excess of $5 million for the small businesses featured on our Instagram feed 20% of those started shipping internationally for the first time. No sorry. 20% employed new staff member as a result 19% started shipping internationally 96% are women. And I just the 45% indicated that they developed a new technical skill as a result. And I think 90% said of the business owners surveyed said that it improved their quality of life so and I know that Australia Post by Christmas, they were reporting a 30% increase in Haskell, postage and regional areas. So it was, and I think that the $5 million is, is exclusively for businesses that we featured. But beyond what we were featuring, there was this hashtag impact where people were foul following people who really cared about what was happening. Were following the hashtag, and connecting with businesses that we had nothing to do with and investing in them. So I had kind of strangers sometimes stop me and tell me incredible stories about In fact, it happened like last week in the IGA and Warren some. Amy? Grace,
Liz Nable 40:50
you guys, Grace? Can you start that story? Again?
Grace Brennan 40:56
It's saying I'm unstable. Just generally, or I could be down. Okay. So where do you want me to start from talk to me about the IGA in Warren? Okay, so yeah, so last week, in IgA, I was, in fact, what had just happened is that my daughter had just weighed herself in IDA just done a big old way. And I had to go and find some type of towel on the shelf, open it immediately start cleaning up the way open, nobody would see. And now I'm telling you on a podcast, everybody knows. But anyway, I get to the front counter, and somebody says, this lady said, Are you from buy from the bush? I said, Yeah. And she said, Well, you've, I'm from Tamworth, and you really helped my business. And she wasn't, I don't know her. I don't. I'm almost certain she's not selling on our platform or anything. But there are those stories of people who do beyond what we shared. If it woke people up to the idea of looking to regional Australia to to kind of find beautiful things. And there was a nursery owner who stopped me and said, You don't know me, you didn't. You haven't ever shared my business. But I got a phone call from my supplier in Melbourne the other day, saying, you know, I've followed by from the bush, I've just realised how hard it must be in the drought, we're going to send you this stock at no charge, so that you can then sell it because and I know for a fact that nursery businesses of all things you can imagine in a drought in the in the bush were just there was no business for them. People weren't planting plants. So incredible kindness and pragmatism was kind of flowing into these businesses well beyond anything that we were directly doing. And I And I've seen that growth since you know, as again, much, much bigger and much more kind of profound than anything that was on our Instagram feed. So yeah, it was pretty, an immediate impact before Christmas in 2019, there was already some pretty significant change occurring.
Liz Nable 43:18
There is just so I mean, I think I said to you before we started recording that I'm not a gushy interviewer, but I have to say, I just got chills when you told me that story. That is, because it's such a it's not it's really totally beyond started this movement, but it's just caught fire. And it's just it's in place the right time to write them to them. And a really an incredible example. It was never even started with money in mind, which blows my mind. Uh, talk to me a bit now about so you're obviously getting momentum very quickly. $100,000 in the first month, Australia Post deliveries are up by 30%. I mean, that just blows our mind. What what sort of media attention did you start to attract?
Grace Brennan 44:08
Yeah, so in the first so when I left that lunch with my friend, Millie, she said, she called me and said, hey, you know, sunrise or today's show are coming out to Warren to do the weather next week as a drought special, you've got to call them and you've got to ask for buy from the bush to get a segment in the weather cross. And so I kind of really great ideally. Exactly. And at this point, I want to say that that is my worst nightmare to work across. Oh my god, like the allergic reaction I suffered, as she was telling me was like, physical, but I also understood that if you were actually going to try and achieve change, you need to make noise. So that was a great way of making noise because I think most people have an idea and think, Okay, what, what the hell do I do next? Like how? How does? How do I get anybody to find out about this? So within a few days I called I called friends. I basically just asked for favours. I had a friend who worked in TV and said, Can I, you know, what do you reckon she put a call in? And then that day, I got a call back saying, Yep, sounds positive. Because the other thing is, they're looking for local stories. So now that I think about it, of course, they would want to get us on the line across
Liz Nable 45:30
any content, and they need, they've got like six courses or seven courses or something they need. Good story. Exactly.
Grace Brennan 45:34
So then, the next idea came from a friend, Meg, who said, Okay, we everybody needs a t shirt. If they're going to turn up to the web across you need, we need t shirts with the logo. So she organised T shirts with a logo. My friend suggested the T shirts with logos. And so I then had to get on the on the Warren cheeks Facebook group, and say, Does anyone want to turn up and wear a t shirt and stand behind me at this weather cross with sign saying hashtag buy from the bush. And within minutes, I had 40 People ordered T shirts, and offered to make signs. And you know, kids and mothers and, and so I think also that was again, a sign that we just didn't know what else to do. Like, you know, we were in a bit of a state, the drought had us kind of in a corner. And this was just something to try so and friends messaged and said, you know, what, what do you want on the hashtag? I'm going to make signs, the kids are making cardboard signs. What do you want to add hashtag. And so say, this is day three of this idea. And I think at that, at that stage, I had to decide, okay, what do I want on that hashtag, because there were suggestions coming in that were quite convoluted, I think, like, you know, big, big messages. And and I had this instinct to keep it super simple. And just say, hashtag buy from the bush, hashtag city and country and just trying to kind of foster this connection between city and country, and asking people to care about what we were saying. So people turn up with hashtags. And we got a bit of product from local stores, and we just kind of Yeah, and also that day, I remember on the same day, I had a DM from Ben Fordham who followed us on Instagram and said, Can I get you on the radio? And again, I felt sick and wanted to say No way, Jose. But instead, I said, Yes. And so I did a radio interview with him. And from then on, I didn't say no, again, for four months, just said yes to absolutely everything. And opportunities really flowed, that they came to me. And then at a certain point, you know, in the first few weeks, I got a phone call from Georgie Robertson, who runs a PR firm from Wagga, a regional PR firm. And she said, I've got this politician who wants to talk with you and get you down to a launch. And I wanted to check with you whether you want me to put you in touch. And I said yes. And she said, I also think I can really help you with this. Like, if you want me too. I will. And I was like, That would be amazing, because I was completely overwhelmed. So she said, You know what, just put me on the Instagram bio and say, inquiries by our regional PR. And I remember saying to her, No, I won't do that. Because that looks like I'm a pro, looking for PR. And I want this to be a very, I want this to be a mother, or a random in the middle of nowhere, just asking for people to care about the drought. And I don't want it to look like we're a PR campaign. She was like, Okay, that's fair enough. Don't do that. But I will manage, I will basically be your gatekeeper for, for opportunities. And, and that's really all we needed to do at that stage was her. She filtered the opportunities. And, you know, she, she taught me about which things were worth our while, and which maybe weren't in terms of, you know, trying to I was pregnant in running a household and trying to do it all. And she would say, you know, this one's really important because I think it's got great reach, and it's the right audience. And maybe you can say no to this one. That's, you know, that is not and so that was really helpful. And just also just having somebody to bounce ideas off in terms of messaging like I would if I had a strong instinct on. Well, if they asked me this question, this is what my like, this is what I want to say. And it was lovely to have. Georgie with her experience of PR being able to say I absolutely, that's fine. Or I think you're gonna run into trouble with that angle, you know? So sorry, I'll stop because I'm talking too much. No, not at
Liz Nable 50:11
all. I'm fascinated because this is what a lot of business owners don't see coming. And obviously, you know, your, your story is, is very different because you have built this huge community without really intending for it to blow up so quickly. And so your story is almost back to front to a lot of businesses who start.
Grace Brennan 50:36
But it's
Liz Nable 50:36
a really good lesson in being prepared for the media, be prepared for difficult questions, it can get political, as you probably well know. And having that gatekeeper obviously, is an advantage. Because you didn't then have to filter out all the tire kickers and people wasting your time that you really want to live free, you know, hit you know, strike while the iron is hot. Do you feel that the media has to fire your and negative kind of response to your attention?
Grace Brennan 51:11
No, because my aim was to just grow the platform like that was the sole aim, grow the platform grow our reach. So media was the key strategy to do that. There wasn't much else going on strategically other than I'm going to say yes to these interviews, I'm going to tell an engaging story, and be clear on our kind of call to action. And I suppose I'm going to be why I liked that. A why I liked PR was because part of what inspired me and I to do this was about kind of letting people into this story of drought and of modern rural communities. One of the things that inspired million I was to tell a great story about the bush, but also let people understand the the reality of drought within the context of how crucial these how crucial the Bushi is for the Australian identity. So if I want to tell a story, the media and PR was a really great mechanism for doing that beyond, you know, our social media channels. So I really enjoyed, I suppose I was very grateful for the opportunity to talk in the media about once I got over the initial allergic reaction. It was very powerful for us. Okay, great.
Liz Nable 52:48
So tell me a little bit more sort of generally about the art of storytelling. I know when you started Buy From The Bush, you had a very strong idea about what you wanted that story to be and you didn't want it to be sob story. And it wasn't about feeling sorry for farmers, it was about city people understanding the challenges in country investing in and partnering with them to sort of lift them kind of, you know, out of the drought and beyond the drought. What what, what would you say? Your approach to the story was?
Grace Brennan 53:22
Yeah, I think if I'm honest, the at first, it was as simple as here are the beautiful businesses in drought affected communities, do Christmas shopping in the bush. But as it grew, and I understood the growing opportunity, and the growing kind of audience, I knew that I had a chance to tell something a bit bigger and broader. And I think it also evolved as people ask questions of me or if they presented it in a way that didn't sit right with me, then I could clarify the like clarify the story and present a kind of more robust position of what we were trying to do. So an example of that is as we approached Christmas in 2019, the bushfires was horrendous. bushfires started and that is all any house. Sold could really think about, right, you know, the week leading up to Christmas and then through January. And I remember kind of thinking, Well, who cares? is about our drought affected communities right now when you're looking at those houses and communities under threat of fire. And yet, I cared. And I know that a lot of people in my community still cared that we were still in drought. And the the impact was still kind of very much filth, but I needed to make a way of people of not pitting the drought against bushfire not asking people people to kind of chew He's between one cause or another. And, and I just remember having an interview with somebody and saying, Well, this is not about drought relief, it's about this bigger story of investing in the bush and investing in rural Australia. So that the next crisis that comes along, we have a more robust business community and a more robust customer, customer base, and people feel empowered to kind of survive that next crisis. So I think that as our as we faced very and obviously COVID did that, again, you know, particularly, particularly around sponsorship arrangements, and you know, the media's interest in us, or how do how does this story relate to this global pandemic? And the crisis that we face? And what insights can we share that might have some relevance to what the world is going through at the moment, and I'm like, I remember in one week, a number of opportunities for us just fell through because of the COVID lock downs. And like, every other business, I just got these phone calls, saying, that's, that's off, that's off. That's all. And I remember just thinking Chevron's. This might be this, you know, this is a real adjustment for us, how do we navigate? How do we remain important and get people to still care. And so but what inevitably happens is when the dust settles, there's, there's an opportunity, like, if you if you frame the story, correctly, and if you tell a compelling and honest and kind of unique story, I think that people are going to have an interest in that. and I are going to be able to connect it to kind of current headlines. So for example, you know, corporate opportunities are off the table. And then then there was this kind of movement on the back of COVID, towards rebuilding our economy, rebuilding, you know, the sport, small business community. Three, and needing to support them and invest in them, as you know, shoppers started to want to support smaller game. So, yeah, definitely buy from the wishes of relevant as ever.
Liz Nable 57:16
Yeah. And why do you think?
Grace Brennan 57:21
Yeah, I think to answer your question, that the story is kind of our currency. So unless I have a really compelling story to tell, I just become an E commerce platform. i There's there's the that is our point of difference in our instance. So some of the things that I try and do to leverage that is pull out case studies from, you know, some of the businesses that have grown a lot from from when we launched to now, or they felt real positive impact, kind of telling individual stories, both to get the consumer interested, like for them to say, Oh, my God, look what my dollars are doing. I'm going to keep shopping there, because that makes me feel like I'm contributing, but also from a news, you know, PR point of view, on presenting new information about our our campaign on getting an unstable site again.
Liz Nable 58:25
It's okay, I'm going to persevere, I'm going to persevere. And anyone who's listened to the podcast can know that we are coming to not live, but we're coming to you pre recorded for more. And so that's just the nature of the beast. I'll continue on.
Grace Brennan 58:40
I know we talked earlier about,
Liz Nable 58:42
you know, women and women led businesses and the importance of telling your story, because that is, you know, no one can replicate your story. No one can rip off your story. It's unique to you. And that's what sets you apart from your competitors. But I know a lot of women struggle to tell that authentically because they and we talked about as well, is this an Australian cultural thing is treating women I've interviewed have really struggled to acknowledge their achievements in their story, and even feel a bit kind of embarrassed to promote or sell or tell that story publicly.
Grace Brennan 59:23
Yeah, I think that is, that has been my experience of working in a rural community, but also, especially in his Buy From The Bush experience of working with lots of micro and small businesses. This, I think, fundamentally, I'm not sure they necessarily recognise how special and unique they are. So searching for their unique story can be difficult because I'm not sure that they understand just how fantastic and appealing their product or their story or their service is. Great also, I think culturally, it's so ingrained modesty is so ingrained in rural communities. And the idea of standing up on, you know, shouting from the rooftops how good you are, is a deeply uncomfortable thing. And part of part of the reason I've been able to do it was because I was I was selling somebody else's business and somebody else's product, and I was coming from the city. So I could, I could kind of recognise the unique little aspects of this story that were so incredible and inspiring. And not, you know, I suppose everybody out he did is deals with challenges and adversity, that people in the city would find remarkable, but because, you know, all your neighbours are going through the same thing, it doesn't become remarkable. So you feel like a bit of a silly bug or having a whinge or, you know, telling anybody those works, because it's everybody's experience. So I think that, that modesty holds a lot of founders back. Out here, especially, I think it's probably women, you know, more broadly, need to probably get some get a masculine approach to sales. In business, and yeah, I also think there's some, there's something about wanting, not like wanting growth without wanting to boast. And I have So in my experience of, of buy from the bush I like, in life, I like to offer operate with like, under promise over deliver approach, like I would try and frame myself as an expert, because that's just sets me up for sets other people up for disappointment, like, I can't, I can't be an expert. But it also that under promise over deliver thing really doesn't work in business. Because if you are actually wanting somebody to buy in and engage and and value what you're offering, you absolutely need to sell that value. And yeah, I, I haven't mastered it myself. And I think it's one of the things that, you know, really, people tapping into, to their potential actually means them recognising their, their unique value offering as a, as an individual and what they what they can do that nobody else can do. And, and, as I said, shouting it from the rooftops. So I've used a lot of words, I wanted to ask
Liz Nable 1:02:49
about how I mean, obviously this is what I do is teaching sort of women in business, how to overcome those insecurities for want of a better description, and to own those unique talents and to be prepared to go the extra mile and tell their story to help promote their business using social media or whatever. But from your personal experience as a seagull coming to the country, I've always been like this mouthpiece and country, consciously or unconsciously. Have you ever felt lost a syndrome? Or have you ever had any negative feedback or worried what people thought of you when this whole thing took off?
Grace Brennan 1:03:31
I definitely experienced impostor syndrome. I don't ever if I am selling somebody else and what they're like, I really believe in the magic of the bush and rural Australia and I want people to see its value. So I don't experience it. When I'm when I'm pitching on behalf of the Bush, Bush. It's it's very natural and easy and comfortable for me. Where I would have trouble is if I were I also do in a bizarre twist. This has also led to kind of speaking opportunities for me. So I got asked to do the Australia Day dress. And I remember when they when they call to ask me that I said I'm I don't think I can do that. That's just not something that I've got nothing interesting to say really. So I asked if I could have a think about it, and then decided that it was I'd be mad not to and and celebrate discomfort. But then that's it.
Liz Nable 1:04:40
But in it's crazy that that was your first reaction.
Grace Brennan 1:04:45
Right? Yeah, I just it just filled. So one of the things so I had a meeting about it after I'd said yes. And I clarified with them to say Can I just go tell my story because for do I need to reflect a much broader kind of subsection of, of society? And am I talking something? Am I do I need to offer something profound? Or can I just tell my story? And they said, no, no, the whole idea is you telling your story and your, your idea about an Australian identity. So that felt more comfortable, but I now kind of sometimes do speaking gigs. And as soon as there's, if somebody is paying me to do something, I suffer great discomfort around that, I think, God, I cannot be worth it, you know, this, this is probably rubbish. Whereas if I was doing it for free, I would not suffer any of those anxieties. So I think that yeah, I think that that's something interesting, isn't it, because it's almost like my perception of my own, like the value I can deliver on it. That's why I'm kind of distinguishing between selling buy from the bush, which I really don't struggle with, and selling myself as a proposition that's much more uncomfortable. And I, I really sympathise with people whose business and identity are very closely connected. Like in your case, you're saying, yeah, yeah.
Liz Nable 1:06:25
And I have, I am the same, you know, I think all women generally, unless you are maybe overly confident, or we all struggle with this sell. And in my mind, I, too, and I really cringe at the social media stuff, and, but I have to be at peace with the fact that if I feel like I'm adding value, I'm giving people Yes, value in whatever I'm conveying in an in an email or online or in my courses, then that's okay. Because that qualifies me to be able to be selling or promoting, because I have value to add, but I don't ever just get on there and talk about myself, because that's feels like a very uncomfortable place to be for most of us. So it's so I find it fascinating. They are telling me the same narratives.
Grace Brennan 1:07:17
And I just wonder about the, I suppose my value bar is very high. So I agree with you, if you feel like you're adding value, it's okay. A but I would, I would need to add a lot of value to feel justified in in, you know, charging a fee. And that's, that is something that one of the one of the things that I think is really beneficial is if you're so busy, you don't have time to dwell on this. So if you say yes to opportunities, and stretch yourself, because I know, I really believe in that idea of, of, you need to kind of be operating in that discomfort zone to really be realising your full potential like outside your comfort zone, just on the edge, stretching yourself and stretching yourself to really realise your potential. But in doing that, I think that there's this constant synth kind of, oh my god, I'm in over my head. And, you know, I'm going to be found out. And I need to be, I need to be just doing so much in order for me to feel a level of comfort almost. And, you know, undervaluing my contribution, feels much more comfortable to me than then asking for somebody else to evaluate. And so, I mean, that's so wrong, isn't it? And it's not something I see men suffering quite so much.
Liz Nable 1:08:42
Right? And it's not it's not I am I also have these conversations with other women because my business partner and my bricks and mortar businesses, my husband like I'm, you know, I'm all about, but I'm not. I'm not to, you know, I'm, you know, I don't have that opinionated on that. But I will say that men don't have a problem with it, not because they're, they just don't think about it. It's just as simple. If we overanalyze it and think about it, then we tell people things, and we don't want to get in our boots and men just admit it. They're like, I'm good at that. My sons, my daughters, but my sons do. And it's not. They're not being boastful. They're just telling what they think is their truth. Yeah. I'm good at that.
Grace Brennan 1:09:25
And you've just actually triggered Well, I was meant to say before, but I lost my way. Yeah, do that when you're so busy. This self indulgent doubt goes away. So when I think environment, which is, you know, original kind of 18 months or something, there was no time to stop and go, Oh, shit, this is uncomfortable for me. And oh, no, I'm not meant to be here. So you just kind of propelled yourself forward and I've actually spoken to a couple of other founders who have experienced the same thing. But there was no self doubt when there was a job to do, like you just have to get the job done. And actually, they've talked, I've talked to one about the idea that she simulates that. That's pace of life, even, you know, beyond kind of the initial growth of her business because she wants to just kind of roll through opportunity say yes, think about it later say yes, think about it later. And, and I I'm, I'm really intrigued by that the idea of potentially simulating that kind of hectic busyness so that you're not tripping yourself up with self doubt.
Liz Nable 1:10:33
Yeah. And Isaac days and thinking too much about it and making it feel it in your head. It's interesting. I like that theory. I think that that's how I run my life just winging it. Thank you saying it. Working it all out later. You've done a really amazing job of creating that longevity for Buy From The Bush. Which, which I know, what's your next goal after the storm subsided? What what's next for buy from the bush? We have plans? Next sort of foreseeable future? Or what what do you see for Buy For The Bush next.
Grace Brennan 1:11:06
So we are very much in a consolidation phase of trying to make the business itself robust. The reality of the way our business is set up is that the margins are pretty small. So and the the resourcing is pretty intense, because we're kind of trying to support a community of businesses also. So I'm in the process of kind of, in fact, I shouldn't say this, I'm always evaluating the business model, trying to understand what I can do to resource the business in a way that's going to allow it to grow. And so it sounds so unsexy. But there's no, you know, it's not about major growth plans for me at the moment, it's about setting up for success as we grow. And that means, you know, human resourcing it means funding models means also, you know, I'm always interested in storytelling and PR opportunities and partnerships and that kind of thing. But, yeah, I think that my major focus is really understanding what this business should look like through the next phase, if you can kind of think about what we've done as horizon one, what is horizon? Two? And how can I set it up? Well,
Liz Nable 1:12:36
firstly, because you have obviously changed the lives of so many small business owners in rural and regional Australia that you must, I would imagine have that, you know, you know, it's more than a it's more than a business transaction with them. Now, it's like a, an ongoing relationship, I would imagine.
Grace Brennan 1:12:53
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, that's true in some ways. And the other truth is that as we do transition to a business, we also need to be delivering real value. Like, yeah, I want to create a community where we all you know, all sorts of opportunities come to us and I filter those on to small businesses. And that's kind of the part that we enjoy the most about what we do that we can sometimes connect big business with small business. And, you know, do some training workshops or markets and things like that, that aren't commercially, you know, there's no commercial interest, but it just is great. And it's great for community building, and it's great for visibility, and, and networking. But I think that the more we grow, the more these businesses apps need to realise financial, commercial value from us otherwise, you know, what's the point for them. So, beyond that kind of beautiful, there's just such great vibes. And there's such a beautiful community of businesses that have been part of the buy from the bush thing from the start. But new businesses that we're onboarding have none of that history, they just see a marketplace. It's a channel like a sales channel for them, and how can we make it really good? And you know, what distribution channels can we access? That means that it's delivering real value to them? So like any, like any business, there are the small businesses is really a paying customer. So how can we maximise the return on investment to them?
Liz Nable 1:14:36
Wow, you've got another big job ahead of you.
Grace Brennan 1:14:41
And also, like, the other side of my brain is like, what's next? Okay, I just want to go home. And look. Yeah, I'd like to
Liz Nable 1:14:49
just Yeah, have you. I feel like I could talk to you forever. And I promised you it'd be 45 minutes and I'm totally eaten into most of your afternoon. I appreciate you doing this for and bearing with me through all the technical stuff. On today's podcast, it was an absolute pleasure to have you on the show.
Grace Brennan 1:15:09
Thank you so much for having me. And I feel like I have got, like you set me up for this conversation in a way that maybe go quite immediately to the analytics. And I hope that I wasn't a little bit like jumping, jumping all over the shop. No, you know what I
Liz Nable 1:15:25
think? I think a lot of business owners you know, I as I said, I stole to a little before our interview and listen to you know, obviously you've done a tonne of podcasts, and we didn't even get to how you weigh we'll do another podcast episode with you down the track. And we'll change tact a bit. But if people want to listen to your original story, there's a million podcasts I think they can go to that's how I feel. So I definitely wanted you to go. We didn't need to know the globe. I blog the beginning because I think you've probably done that a million times. And it was it was super interesting
into what you've done. I just find it I really find it fascinating. Thank you for listening to this episode of Nable My Business. If you've loved it, please share it on Instagram and Facebook for your friends. I'm all about listening and learning from you my audience. So please pop a review on iTunes and let me know how you're enjoying the show. I'd love to hear from you. So if you have any questions, email me at Liz at Liz naval.com And if you want to know more about what I do, head over to Liz nabal.com I truly hope this podcast is a game changer for you. Whether you're a small business owner, franchisee you have a side hustle or you're just starting out. This is where you truly begin to build your own empire and the life of your dreams.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
