THEY are young, determined and taking the business world by storm – Queensland’s latest crop of entrepreneurs and innovators are on their way to the big time.
For Queensland Business Monthly’s 5th annual Top 20 under 40 list, we caught up with some of the state’s emerging leaders from a variety of fields.
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Part 2 of the list, that is not ranked in any particular order, features Lex Greensill, the farmer running a 24/7 operation shipping produce to the world, and Megan Ziems, the Gold Coast designer selling wedding dresses to stars, as two examples of the diverse range of talent.
PART 1: Queensland’s Top 20 Under 40
Then there are tech founders like Ryan Stuart whose company is analysing customer feedback for some of the world’s biggest companies or Morgahna Godwin who learnt to code to solve her own health problems and ended up helping thousands of women.
PETER GREENSILL, 37, GREENSILL FARMING/GREENSILL CAPITAL
The Greensill clan have been farming in the Bundaberg region for three generations, but Peter Greensill and his brother Lex have taken the operation to a whole new level.
Greensill Farming Group now covers more than 2000ha of cultivation of sweet potatoes, water melons and other crops spread across four main sites with a geographic spread of about 80km, and their business runs 24/7.
Peter is also a director of UK-based Greensill Capital, founded by his brother Lex in 2011.
CHRIS JEFFERY, 33, MEDICAL ENTREPRENEUR
Having carved a career as an engineer, Australian Army captain and doctor with an interest in orthopaedics, Dr Chris Jeffery has now found his niche as a medical device designer.
Jeffery has combined the skills and insights gained in each of these roles to create three multimillion-dollar Brisbane companies, each of which is dedicated to finding solutions for common, vexing problems in medicine.
Recently named one of Engineers Australia’s most innovative, Jeffery – in collaboration with a team of like-minded surgeons and engineers – has written a simple diagnostic hearing test and created personalised headphones with Audeara, taken his revolutionary micro-screw system with Field Orthopaedics to the world, and is using Yumm! Confectionery to fund mental health resources for young people.
LEAH CAMERON, 36, MARRAWAH LAW
Firebrand Aboriginal lawyer Leah Cameron speaks to the heart of the $30 billion spent every year in the nation’s indigenous space.
The Cairns-based Marrawah Law firm founder, 36, a leader in native title land law and a Palawa/Trawlwoolway woman from Lutrawita (Tasmania), is on the frontline of a boom in the $30 billion indigenous-owned economy.
Cameron heads to the Dream Summit in Sydney as a mentor and judge in the awards for Australia’s emerging indigenous entrepreneurs from September 12 to 13.
SAM JARRED, 38, PRICE ATTACK/TOMMY GUN’S BARBERSHOPS
Sam Jarred knows the hair business.
Having done practically every role you can think of at his family’s Price Attack retail business, Jarred is now chief executive of Tommy Gun’s Barbershops which he founded in 2015.
It has 15 stores in Queensland and New South Wales.
BEN THOMPSON & BRANDON BOOR, BOTH 31, INCODOCS
Former North Queensland cowboy Brandon Boor and international analyst Ben Thompson help SME’s navigate increasingly complex global trade.
Founded in 2016, IncoDocs now supplies cloud-based logistic support software to 4000 small to medium-sized companies based in 120 countries.
WILLIAM LIU, 36, SONO AND MOTTO MOTTO
Chinese-born, Queensland-educated businessman William Liu has plans to take a chain of Japanese eateries – to Japan.
It sounds ambitious. But, while he has seen setbacks, Liu has also since 2005 survived in the high-end restaurant game and even expanded into food chains in the notoriously insolvent eatery sector.
He is owner of the high-end Sono Restaurant in Brisbane’s CBD and has also expanded into the Motto Motto (meaning More, More in Japanese) chain.
There are six Motto Motto locations and hopes of a franchise model with more than 70 stores in Australia, Singapore and even Japan.
RYAN STUART, 34, KAPICHE
With a background in software engineering Ryan Stuart launched Kapiche in 2017, because he saw that companies now and into the future would be competing “not on price or product but the experience they provide”.
His text analytics software has since allowed businesses around the globe to understand “tens of millions” of pieces of customer feedback.
In just three years the business, co-founded with Kris Rogers, has been used by organisations across Australia, Europe and the US.
These include a Silicon Valley social networking app which can’t be named, American Express, Nissan, Toyota, Target and Schindler, growing from a five-person team to 12 staff on its books.
MEGAN ZIEMS, 33, GRACE LOVES LACE
Megan Ziems launched her cult wedding dress store Grace Loves Lace online in 2010 after realising a huge gap in the market while looking to buy her own wedding dress.
She has around 120 staff, with the majority based at the Australian headquarters in Gold Coast’s Burleigh where all the garments are made.
TOMMY ERICSON, 38, AUS SHIPS
The son of Scandinavian immigrants, Tommy Ericson grew up around pleasure craft on Moreton Bay before studying naval engineering and founding Murarrie-based boat builders Aus Ships in 2011.
Aus Ships’ order book is looking increasingly healthy, helped by a lower dollar, buoyant tourism and increased interest incruising by the world’s super rich.
Ericson and his team have already built three vessels for the Hayman Island resort with another two on the drawing board, alongside a booming business in refit and conversion, particularly of superyachts for rich-listers.
MORGAHNA GODWIN, 28, MANAGE ENDO
Bundaberg’s Morgahna Godwin has helped hundreds of women via her Manage Endo app which is an evidence-based symptom tracking tool that allows users to chart their pain levels and lifestyle choices.
Battling endometriosis in 2015, the graphic designer and economics major taught herself to code and built an app to manage the disease by tracking all her daily habits to reduce her dependence on medication.
Her trial caught the attention of women around the globe and the app was recently acquired by peak endometriosis charity QENDO.
Queensland Business Monthly and Griffith Business School are looking for responsible leaders of the future to apply for an MBA Scholarship.
Total prize package is valued up to $130,000. Applications close September 4.
Click here to apply now for the QBM Griffith MBA Scholarship.
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