THE Gold Coast is brimming with inspirational stars in a wide range of fields. To celebrate what we hope will be a great 2021 we have found 21 outstanding young performers who we hope can inspire and lead the city.
Vincent Fletcher, CartonCloud
CartonCloud is an award-winning Gold Coast company created by Vincent Fletcher.
Mr Fletcher developed a cloud-based transport and logistics software that streamlines workflow by automatically allocating jobs based on postcodes and automates invoices.
International mail service DHL signed a contract with CartonCloud recently, following its use of the firm’s software for its operations in Vietnam and Singapore.
The company’s software is now used by more than 90 carriers and warehouses across Australia and New Zealand, processing hundreds of thousands of deliveries each month.
Georgia-Lili Howe, Machia et
Gold Coast local Georgia-Lili Howe launched her own vintage clothing business in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.
With support from public relations specialist Karen Phillips and Gold Coast Women in Business, the 18-year-old opened a pop-up store in the Oasis Broadbeach.
Flynn McFarlane, Stead Lane
Stead Lane is a Gold Coast-based digital agency that works with high profile companies including teeth-whitening product provider HiSmile, action sports clothing e-tailer SurfStitch, functional foods company Morlife and apparel and headwear firm the May Hueys.
The company is led by co-director Flynn McFarlane, who was among the first in Australia to see the benefits of eCommerce platform Shopify.
The company then aligned their services and products so it fitted with the Shopify platform.
It is the only affiliate partner for Shopify in Queensland and has worked with local and global companies including HiSmile, MacroMike and many more in generating millions of dollars of revenue via online sales.
Annise Bradfield, Gold Coast Suns
Former Bond University women’s Aussie rules player Annise Bradfield was one of four young players who were late last year drafted by the Gold Coast Suns.
Bradfield, who is a traditional footballer having played since she was a teenager, was one of eight women picked in the 2020 AFLW draft.
Josh Murchie, Little Phil
Not-for-profit fundraising platform Little Phil, co-founded by Josh Murchie, is rapidly becoming a shining light in the city’s tech scene with its technology allowing donors to connect directly with the causes they care about – negating the need for charities to spend millions on administration and fundraising apparatuses.
Little Phil had a massive year in 2020 after embarking on a national survey reaching out to 20,000 charities Australia-wide via The State of COVID study into Australia’s not-for-profit sector – that is seeing them become an authority in the philanthropic space.
Mary Grant, McTaggart Grant Lawyers
McTaggart Grant Lawyers co-founder Mary Grant opened a boutique law firm with business partner Ben McTaggart in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.
Ms Grant, who is also the Young Professionals president, left top-tier practice MinterEllison to open McTaggart Grant.
The practice launched on February 10, 2020 and claims to deliver personable and timely service.
Jack Sinfield, Brisbane Heat
The Southport School student Jack Sinfield was eager to earn an invitation to train with the Brisbane Heat team but was instead signed as a replacement for international allrounder Lewis Gregory in December 2020.
The 17-year-old joined the squad at the end of last year for the Big Bash League’s opening game against the Melbourne Stars in Canberra.
Alexandra Wells, volunteer
At 15 Alexandra Wells petitioned local politicians for funding to start the Gold Coast Inclusive Sports Program so children with disabilities are able to play sports, modified for their ability, for fun and fitness.
The program is now entering its fifth year and has 100 participants and more than 50 teenage volunteers.
She is now working on a model of the program that can be rolled out in other communities.
Alexandra, now 21, also works for GC Day, an organisation where parents of children with disabilities can drop their children so they can have a break.
She also helps train the volunteers, runs sessions and looks after marketing as well as playing sports with the kids and teaching them how to cook.
Harriet Messenger, Husk Distillers
Husk Distillers sales and marketing manager Harriet Messenger helped to put the distiller father’s gin on the global map.
The family-run Tumbulgum distillery exploded when Hollywood superstar Margot Robbie posted a photo of herself drinking the colour-changing Ink Gin onto Instagram in 2016.
The family opened its farm to the public in 2019 after expanding the distilling shack into a new cellar door, bar and cafe.
At the start of 2020 Husk made headlines when the distillery was forced to lay off two dozen workers in the coronavirus crisis but turned to sanitiser production to keep full-time staff employed and address a shortage.
By mid-2020 Ink Gin was one of Queensland’s favourite blends, according to sales data from Dan Murphy’s.
Ben Grant, Queensland Reds
All Saints Anglican College graduate Ben Grant has become the first Gold Coast Associated Private Schools talent to sign with the Queensland Reds in over a decade.
The 204 centimetre, 114 kilogram lock will join the Reds development squad after cutting his teeth with the Western Force for the last two seasons.
Grant follows in the footsteps of fellow All Saints alumni Ben Daley, who was the last APS graduate to sign with Queensland in 2009.
Brodie Green, Seadog
Seadog owner Brodie Green was not only voted the Gold Coast’s best coffee maker, the young business owner opened a second cafe, Seadog in the Park, in collaboration with Burleigh Heads Bowls Club in December 2020.
Pacha Light, environmentalist
Pro surfer Pacha Light was one of the key speakers at the 2020 Global Wave Conference hosted by Gold Coast World Surfing Reserve Inc.
The The 6th Biennial Global Wave Conference was an international gathering to advance the recognition of the value of waves and their protection around the world.
It brought together the best international minds from surfing, conservation, and innovation communities to tackle the world’s most challenging ocean issues.
Light is also an ambassador for Surfers For Climate.
Jojo Fifita, Titans
Gold Coast Titans have poached Queensland rugby union’s brightest up and coming outside backs prospect from the Queensland Reds Academy.
The Southport School outside centre Jojo Fifita, 17, will join the Titans top 30 squad on a three-year-deal upon his 18th birthday in January despite having never played a minute of rugby league.
The prodigious centre is one of the most highly regarded teenagers in the country with Wallabies coaches Dave Rennie and Matt Taylor among the regular spectators at his high school rugby fixtures.
Kareem Baba, volunteer
Kareem Baba assisted in a fundraising event on the Gold Coast for bushfire victims that was organised by Multicultural Social Network.
He flew to Sydney with other volunteers, bought relief products in Sydney and then drove about 15 hours to personally deliver the relief items to the bushfire victims in Mogo and Cobargo.
He helped about 200 international students who were stranded on the Gold Coast because of COVID-19.
Every Thursday Kareem collects food products from different places, packs them into food hampers and delivers to students on the Gold Coast.
Every Saturday he helps cook and deliver hot meals to the students.
Alisha Geary, Faebella
Alisha Geary founded Faebella - an activewear range featuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander designs - in 2016 when she was just 22.
Ms Geary said she nurtured the idea when she was accepted into the Bond Business Accelerator program, winning $5000 to help start her online business.
Dan Norris, Black Hops
Three Gold Coasters, including Dan Norris, who had a love for beer got together six years ago and brewed a batch of Eggnog Stout in their backyard.
Using bottles gifted from leading company Four Pines, they slapped on Black Hops stickers and handed the beer to friends within the brewing community.
By 2016, they had found a 250sq m building on Gardenia Grove, Burleigh Heads, took over the buildings next door and behind, and expanded to a 600sq m brewhouse.
Two years later, they found they needed to expand Black Hops further – finding space for a brewery and tap house four times the size, roughly 2000sq m, on Pine Ridge Rd, Biggera Waters.
By October 2020, the brewery expanded to Brisbane after taking ownership of Semi-Pro Brewing’s 1000-litre facility and 100-seat taproom in East Brisbane.
Clinton Schultz, SOBAH
Three years after SOBAH launched Australia’s first non-alcoholic beers, it was sitting on shelves in major bottle shops.
Gamilaroi man and psychologist Clinton Schultz founded SOBAH in 2017 and said the beer was flavoured with Australian bush tucker, giving drinkers unique flavours from pepperberry IPA, lemon aspen pilsner, boab and wild ginger lager and finger lime cerveza.
James and Erica Bartle, Outland Denim
Outland Denim was created by CEO and founder James Bartle to empower vulnerable women in developing countries.
Outland Denim launched in 2016 but went viral late last year after the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, stepped out in the brand’s “Harriet’’ black skinny jeans during her official tour Down Under. Literally overnight, the brand became a phenomenon.
Online sales increased by 2300 per cent over the two weeks after Meghan’s appearance in the jeans, while traffic to their website shot up by 1000 per cent in the 48 hours after she wore them.
But the impact can be best quantified with one fact — the sales spike has since allowed 46 new seamstresses, most of whom were victims of sex trafficking or forced labour, to be employed at Outland Denim’s factory in Cambodia.
Sharine Duran, Adzurra
Gold Coast entrepreneur Sharine Duran was wandering the streets of Paris in 2017 looking for bricks-and-mortar boutique fashion stores when the idea formed for her business Adzurra.
Adzurra is a two-sided marketplace that connects shoppers with brick-and-mortar retailers by location to increase foot traffic into stores.
In 2019 Ms Duran flew to London with the support of Advance Queensland to attend London Tech Week with Queensland’s chief entrepreneur, Leanne Kemp.
The MVP (minimum viable product) was launched in August 2019 for IOS and android and, without any marketing, had 60 users and 50 boutique stores on board, mostly on the Gold Coast.
In 2020 Adzurra reached the top 100 for shopping app downloads on Google Play.
Judes Yang, Sahaja Yoga Mats
Judes Yang started Sahaja Yoga Mats in early 2017 after working as a yoga instructor for 12 years.
Sahaja Yoga Mats was launched as a social enterprise with the aim of funding solar lights for families in Mozambique.
The company sells brightly coloured yoga mats inspired by geometry and yoga philosophy and which are designed to help foster natural alignment for students during practice.
In 2019 Ms Yang branched out to open her own yoga studio with the backing of Sunland chairman Soheil Abedian.
Eden Shirley, AutoGuru
Surfers Paradise-based car servicing marketplace AutoGuru enables consumers to find and compare quotes online from workshops for car servicing and some specialist mechanical repairs.
CEO and founder Eden Shirley launched the business in 2009 and is now a $60 million-plus venture with a network of thousands of mechanical workshops around Australia.
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