Father and son duo, Marc and Dale Carr, have always been interested in extending the user experience on technology platforms. As mobile phones became more prolific, they founded Mobile Data Group, to bring multimedia content to technology platforms, whether it be to send SMS, run trivia contests or sell wallpapers, games and videos.
Maureen Frank, author of You Go Girlfriend, which deals with gender diversity, left behind her large pay packet at a US multinational and founded emberin, an organisation assisting companies in attracting and retaining female staff.
Consolidation of operators in niche healthcare areas in the mid nineties opened the door for Stuart Giles and his wife Cathie Reed to develop APHS, a national pharmacy service network. APHS has now grown to become one of Australia’s largest niche healthcare providers, specialising in aged care and hospital pharmacy groups with offices in Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.
Seeing a gap in the services offered by IT distributors, Tony Gea Gea decided to fill it; with 24/7 Distribution. Now 24/7 Distribution has become the leading services-based distributor of unified communication solutions with offices in every state in Australia, India, New Zealand and Fiji.
It was a combination of gut feel and knowing what was happening that led Costa Anastasiadis to the open his first Crust Gourmet Pizza Bar in Annandale, Sydney. After opening four more stores, Anastasiadis invested in a proper franchising model. Today Crust Gourmet Pizza Bars have 17 stores operating under the franchise model across Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
With no formal degrees, Dorry Kordahi became the founder and managing director of Dorry Kordahi Management (DKM). Since beginning his marketing and branding business in 2002, out of a shed, DKM has come to operate in Sydney, Melbourne and Shanghai and generates more than $4,000,000 in revenue.
With her passion for green business and experience in niche product design, marketing and business, Tracey Bialek established Ripple Products to develop a niche product in the growing green business sector.
Online business has always been an interest of Stephen Langford’s. Appreciating the success of Netflix in the US, Langford soon launched Quickflix in Australia, and online business success followed.
Managing information online simply made sense to Rob Phillpot and Leigh Jasper. And so they founded Aconex, an online information management and collaboration service which services projects with a combined value of AU$200 billion across 44 offices worldwide.
When it came to setting up her own home office after moving from Sweden to Australia, Kristina Karlsson was quick to realise the lack of stylish home and office products that Australia had to offer. “I really wanted my office to be an extension of my personality, just as the rest of my home was. So, I designed my first range and it all started from there.”
