The most exciting entrepreneurs on Sydney’s north shore
The north shore’s growing list of innovators and entrepreneurs are making their mark. Here’s our guide to the most exciting and inspiring entrepreneurs in 2021.
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The north shore is full of bright sparks and big thinkers with residents across the region behind some of Sydney’s most innovative and enterprising companies.
To celebrate their achievements, the North Shore Times this week shines a light on seven entrepreneurs who have made their mark in businesses specialising in food to technology and education.
With a keen eye for opportunities in a crowded marketplace, they’re all problem solvers with a flair for innovation.
Many have also found new and inventive ways of serving consumers and other organisations.
If you’ve ever dreamt of giving up your day job, here are some of the region’s biggest local success stories to inspire you.
JOANNE BOWSKILL AND HOLLY BOAL
More than 300,000 Aussie kids now have extra cooking tricks up their sleeves thanks to a business launched by two north shore mums.
Joanne Bowskill and Holly Boal founded Get Kids Cooking in 2013 which provides hands-on cooking programs for teachers to run in schools across Australia and encourages youngsters to get into the kitchen.
Ms Bowskill said the program was aimed at equipping students with the cooking skills and healthy food knowledge to make nutritious food choices as they progress to adulthood.
“They learn to chop, peel, mix and make – all our programs and classes are designed to be hands-on and educational,” she said.
“Many parents often don’t know where to start when it comes to what kids can do safely in the kitchen so it helps show simple things like mixing and measuring.”
The company also designed and invented a mobile kitchen called The Kitchen Cart, which provides facilities for schools which may not have a dedicated cooking area.
There is also a Cook In A Box program which allows children to create low-cost meals using healthy ingredients.
Ms Bowskill said the business is planning to expand in coming months by reaching more schools in regional Australia and low socio-economic areas. Her advice to other entrepreneurs was to “look for the problem to solve” and identify innovative solutions.
“It’s so rewarding to create a business from scratch and see it grow,” she said.
BLAKE GARRETT
What started as a project at his north shore high school has transformed into a profitable and growing business for Artarmon resident Blake Garrett.
The former Chatswood High School was completing his Year 12 studies when he got the inspiration to launch an e-learning platform called School Bytes which has made sharing resources with students easier for schools.
Since its launch in 2015, the business has grown into a comprehensive school management platform that covers finance, sport selection and voting modules.
“It helps schools get rid of a lot of their paperwork and admin and there are time savings for both parents and staff – they’re not having to fill out and send things like permission notes and invoices. Everything is digitised,” he said.
After launching in Chatswood, the School Bytes program spread through word of mouth and is now used by 440 schools across NSW.
Mr Garrett – who hopes to expand the program to other states this year – said his advice to budding entrepreneurs was to follow instincts and give new ideas a shot.
“For me having Chatswood High School on board from the start was also a huge help because I was able to see how the program could applied in a real environment,” he said.
PALISA ANDERSON
Palisa Anderson is continuing to make waves in the culinary world by running two of Sydney’s most sought-after restaurants along with her own organic farm on the state’s north coast.
The multi-talented Mosman resident is the second-generation restaurateur at the Chat Thai restaurants in Neutral Bay and Randwick which she juggles with running Boon Cafe/Jarern Chai Asian Grocers in the CBD and the Boon Luck organic farm near Byron Bay.
The mother-of-two also hosts her own cooking series Water Heart Food on SBS Food and released her first book Boon Luck Farm, On Growing last year.
Ms Anderson said she started the farm in 2015 after her restaurants frequently struggled to source the large quantities of the speciality ingredients they needed such as holy Thai basil, kaphrao and Thai eggplant.
The farm now provides enough produce for both restaurants along with other top eateries including Icebergs.
“Before we started the farm the way we were buying our fruits and vegetables was following the season up the coast – we’re now able to supply what we need, and it’s also about growing organically and knowing exactly where our food comes from,” she said.
“We’re growing on 40 acres – It’s a multi-diverse crop – and we’ve found by not irrigating and growing vegetables with 10 other crops you get more of a flavour profile.”
Ms Anderson said running her farm has given her a new appreciation for the work that goes into growing produce.
Her advice to budding chefs was to place extra attention on sourcing top quality ingredients.
”It’s a tough industry but so rewarding and everyone has to start somewhere – even if it’s just going to the markets and getting connected to food,” she said.
“Any good chef can make anything taste good – but if you start off with quality integral produce you don’t have to do any trickery to create something that tastes amazing.”
MATT SKERRITT
Matt Skerritt has helped thousands of Australians feel proud of who they are both inside and out through an innovative company that makes adaptive clothing for people with disabilities and special needs.
The entrepreneurial Castlecrag resident was working with the family business which owns and operates a number of aged-care facilities when he came up with the idea for Australia’s first online store selling adaptive clothing and footwear.
The EveryHuman business caters to the one in five people in Australia who live with a disability and can struggle to find stylish but functional accessible clothing and accessories.
“When it launched there wasn’t a lot out there in Australia and what was on offer was aged-care focused rather than disability focused or suitable for young people,” he said.
“The more I researched the more I began to discover that many people struggled to dress themselves as well and to find fashion they wanted to wear
“We’re able to provide greater choices for people who have been ignored by the fashion industry for too long – it’s about empowering people to feel confident.”
Since its launch, the company has reached more than 6500 customers and has partnered with big brands including Tommy Hilfiger on its range of adaptive clothing.
Mr Skerritt said following instincts and maintaining self-belief was integral to starting a business from scratch.
“I think it’s easy to convince yourself it’s not a good idea but if you’re passionate about what you’re doing you’ve got to follow your instincts and trust your judgment,” he said.
ROS HUNTER
An upper north shore resident has been kept in hot demand after launching her own rent-a-mum errand running service, driving around doing odd-jobs for people all across the region.
Ros Hunter started Upper North Shore Ladies Running Errands in 2017 as a way of being “the extra family member” for time-starved households across the region.
She has done everything from dropping kids off to school, grocery shopping, taking grandparents out for a cuppa and taking care of driving duties for airport transfers and girls’ nights out on the town.
Ms Hunter said she felt there was a great need for it with the hectic demands of modern life making work-life balance hard for busy parents.
“We describe ourselves as the extra family member and we’re there to help out with the day-to-day jobs but also things like taking older family members to appointments or taking them out for a coffee,” she said.
“For a lot of families who have two or three kids it can be challenging to be everywhere at once and getting kids to different sporting events – we’re there to lend a helping hand.”
Ms Hunter previously worked in office administration but said working for herself provided greater rewards.
“I got to the stage in my life where I thought if I don’t give this a go I never will,” she said.
“Some of our families started when their kids were in kindy and now they’re in Year 3. It’s really rewarding”
ANNEKE VAN DEN BROEK
Animal lover and award-winning business owner Anneke van den Broek had a strong business sense from a young age.
“My first entrepreneurial endeavour was to breed and sell mice at the age of seven to the pet shop up the road for 20c apiece,” she said.
Fast forward to today and the Mosman resident now runs the hugely successful petcare business Rufus & Coco, which sells a range of pet health and beauty products to more than 4500 stores in nine countries around the world.
She founded the company while pregnant with her first child in 2008 and has since grown the business to become one of Australia’s most awarded pet care brands, selling everything from grooming, cleaning and vitamin products.
Ms Van den Broek, who spent 18 months researching and planning before launching the business from her spare room, said innovation and dedication were among the keys to success.
“Being an entrepreneur is full of razor blades and champagne moments so resilience and coming to terms with the ups and downs is essential,” she said.
“Passion will help drive you forward through the inevitable setbacks of small business.”
KYLE AND GEORGIA FORD
Entrepreneurial Wollstonecraft couple haven’t looked back since trading in their jobs to launch the first distillery in St Leonards.
Kyle Ford and Georgia Cann are the co-owners of Finders Distillery which produces Australian dry gin and Australian vodka – and recently pivoted to manufacturing hand sanitiser during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Before launching the distillery, Kyle learnt his trade in engineering with the Australian Airforce while Georgia started her career as a buyer in women’s fashion.
In 2016 the couple sold almost everything they owned and set off on a two year, around the world trip journey where they became inspired to launch a business of their own.
The distillery now supplies to 30 retailers including bars and restaurants in Crows Nest, Lane Cove and North Sydney.
“In the distillery we always kick off with tastings where people can try the products and learn about the production process,” Mr Ford said.
“People are really blown away that they can get something that’s made around the corner. It’s great to have that local connection.”
The spirits are made in single batches in a 300-litre copper still, and all the bottling, sealing, labelling and packing is done by hand.
Mr Ford said the business in the process of launching a new location series, highlighting botanic regions across Australia.
“We sometimes kick ourselves – we get to make gin and talk to people about the products on the weekends. Getting to do what you love every day is so rewarding,” he said.
“It definitely has its challenges but that makes it all the more rewarding when you’re kicking goals.”
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