Sunshine Coast, Noosa’s socialite success stories
From TV stars to award-winning business owners, these impressive personalities all started somewhere. See how these Sunshine Coast and Noosa figures built their empires.
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The Sunshine Coast and Noosa are home to some of the wealthiest and most well known socialites in the country, from TV stars and models to award-winning business owners and style icons.
But, they all had to start building their empires from somewhere.
Here is a list of 14 success stories across the Sunshine Coast and Noosa.
EMILY GHOUGASSIAN
Noosa beauty Emily Ghougassian hit the public eye in 2015 when she was vying for Sam Wood’s attention in the 2015 season of The Bachelor Australia.
Emily was portrayed as the villain of the season and walked out during what was called “one of the most dramatic rose ceremonies of the series”.
At 34, Emily announced her engagement to Pierre Ghougassian on Valentine’s Day 2018, via social media and was married in Melbourne later that year wearing a Tanya Didenko wedding gown.
Emily has two daughters and has spoken openly about her pregnancy battles with pre eclampsia.
She is a makeup artist, brand ambassador, model and co owner of skincare brand, The Pure Oil Co.
KEELY ANDREW
Powerhouse Keely Andrew is a professional surfer who was born and raised in Mooloolaba and still resides on the Sunshine Coast.
Keely started surfing when she was eight encouraged by her dad and two brothers.
At 28 years old, Keely has had a long surf career which included competing in the Roxy Pro WCT event at Snapper Rocks, winning the Piping Hot Pro Junior at Bells Beach, winning the Swatch Girls Pro Junior in France and finishing 3rd in the Swatch Girls Pro WQS in France.
CHRIS JENSEN
Model, influencer and TV personality, Chris Jensen lives on the Sunshine Coast with his partner, model and influencer, @taylamade — sunshine.
Chris starred in Channel 9s Married At First Sight in 2021, and quickly became the fan favourite when he was paired with Jaimie Gardner who said he was “not my usual type” before their relationship came to an explosive end shortly after their honeymoon.
A FIFO driller and father to two girls, Chris says he “is proud to be a Men’s Mental Health charity ambassador with Manscapes”.
ALI OETJEN
Ali Oetjen is a model, healthy lifestyle motivator and TV personality who found fame when she appeared on a string of reality dating shows.
She has also appeared on shows including The Project, Holey Moley, The Weakest Link, Have You Been Paying Attention and SAS.
Ali co-founded the popular app Wellness Warriors where she educates and motivates thousands of women to improve their mind and body by following her 28-day program.
“Surrounded by her family, Ali Oetjen lives in the mountains on the Sunshine Coast,” her website states.
“Her love for nature, active lifestyle, and adventures encourages and inspires her online community all over the globe.”
LILLIANA BOWREY
Born in Noosa, 18-year-old Lilliana is a model, actor and surfer.
She starred in a 10 part teen drama series Surviving Summer which was released on Netflix in 2022 where she played the surfer character Poppy Tatuanua.
Lilliana was also nominated in the top 10 Best Female Surfers by Tracks Magazine and is skilled at touch footy and writes her own songs and plays the ukulele.
She says her favourite wave is Medewi, a sand bottom left point break in Bali, not dissimilar to Noosa – just going in the preferable direction for a goofy footer.
JASMINE STEFANOVIC
The wife of media personality Karl Stefanovic, Jasmine is the ambassador of Win the Day, a charity to raise awareness and support the funding of research related to rare childhood cancers.
The couple, who own a property at Sunshine Beach, were caught in the middle of the now infamous ‘Noosa fightgate’ between Jasmine’s younger sister, Jade Yarbrough, and cricketer Michael Clarke.
A style icon in her own right, Jasmine is also one half of the design duo responsible for one of Australia’s most popular shoe brands, Mara & Mine.
Born in Brisbane, Jasmine worked in the fashion industry from the age of 18 and modelled alongside Australian models Lara Bingle and Miranda Kerr.
She also starred in catwalk shows for David Jones and leading Australian and International fashion brands.
NILLA TOMKINS
Born in Denmark, Nilla is the founder and executive chief behind Vanilla Foods, with two wildly successful cafes in Noosa Junction and Noosaville.
Nilla has said her interest in food started on the family farm in the medieval town of Ribe in Denmark and she is passionate about using fresh produce that is organically grown and local.
“My interest for food started when I was very young helping out my mother in the kitchen”, she states on the Vanilla Foods website.
“After many years of being a chef my love for wholefoods and health blossomed.”
Nilla’s ‘Vanillafood the Cookbook was released in December 2020.
Celebrity chef Matt Golinski described the cookbook as “a kitchen favourite” and said “the dishes are relatively easy to make but full of flavour without being overly-rich or heavy”.
“Nilla’s simple no-fuss approach delivers outstanding dishes that taste as good as they look,” he said.
VLADIA COBRDOVA
Wellness expert and nutritionist Vladia Cobrdova was the chief operating officer of Australian health food franchise About Life for over 13 years.
Independently owned and operated since 1996, About Life is the largest footprint wholefoods retail chain in Australia, offering over 10,000 lines of the highest quality natural, organic, ethically and locally sourced products.
The company currently has seven stores in Sydney at Bondi Junction, Cammeray, Crows Nest, Double Bay, Lane Cove, Rozelle and Surry Hills, and one in Port Melbourne.
Vladia now lives on the Sunshine Coast and is the co-founder of Noosa Junction Gut Health Bar, Jungle and Co, which she opened in 2018 with her sister.
She is also the author of popular cookbook A Whole New Way to Eat published in 2017.
THOMAS BEXON
Thomas is an internationally recognised surfboard shaper who is the co founder of Noosa surfboard business Thomas Surfboards.
Introduced to surfing by his uncle, Thomas grew up surfing waves up and down the east coast of Australia.
After owning a couple of second hand mini mals as his first boards, Thomas began to give shaping his own boards a crack in his Mum’s garage.
After pairing with close mate and now business partner Jake Bowrey, they rented out a small shed and maxed their six grand credit card to get the ball rolling.
Thomas and Jake continue to perfect their skills in the shaping bay and create unique boards for a diverse range of surfers.
GREGORY LADNER
Raised in Melbourne, fashion designer, artist and writer Gregory Ladner now divides his time between Sydney and the Sunshine Coast.
A major name in fashion with a successful eponymous label, Gregory designed for Shanghai Tang in Hong Kong at the height of his career.
From humble beginnings designing outfits and dressing his teddy, to studying fashion at university, Gregory has worked as an Australian couturier for legendary Melbourne institute Le Louvre and was the creator and designer of the hugely successful fashion accessory company, Gregory Ladner.
His memoir, A Boy and His Bear was published in 2022 and a new collection of his paintings will be on show in conjunction with the book launch at Gallery One93 in Tewantin from Friday, May 12 at 6pm, with Annie from ‘Annie’s Books on Peregian’ introducing Gregory and his book.
TILLY SAUNDERS
Noosa socialite and fashion icon Tilly Saunders is a woman of many talents – international model, stylist, DJ and co-owner of Noosa cocktail bar Wink Wink Nudge Nudge.
Ms Saunders, who hails from the United States, was raised in New Orleans and worked in Miami before she moved to New York to pursue modelling and acting.
While working in the Miami night-life scene, her website states, Ms Saunders was scouted by modelling agency Wilhelmina Models and offered an audition for Victoria’s Secret.
She has appeared in a number of TV, print and content campaigns around the world before making the move to Australia and settling on the Sunshine Coast.
Today she is the co-founder and interior designer of Wink Wink Nudge Nudge, where she works as musical director and also as a DJ.
KRISSY MARSH
TV personality Krissy Marsh made the move to the Noosa region at the end of 2022, although still visits her ritzy Double Bay home for the holidays.
Ms Marsh, who is married to property developer John Marsh, shot to fame after she appeared on the 2017 series of the Real Housewives of Sydney as an audience favourite.
In 2003, prior to her appearance on the show, Ms Marsh, who was a licenced real estate agent, established Billicorp – her own real estate agency in Sydney. She eventually drove the business from one agent into a team of ten.
Today she is an ambassador for Ronald McDonald House in Sydney, and dedicates her social media to sharing insight of her glamorous life attending events and spending time with family.
JETT KENNY
Son of sporting greats Grant Kenny and Lisa Currie, Australian Ironman, model and TV personality Jett Kenny was destined for greatness from the start.
The Sunshine Coast man has been competing in surf lifesaving competitions since he was six-years-old, but has forged his own path away from the sporting spotlight as a TV star on shows such as Australia Ninja Warrior and Dancing With the Stars.
When he’s not on the TV or competing in Surf Lifesaving events, he’s an established model.
CLINTON EASTELL
Sunshine Coast real estate agent and director of Eastell and Co Clinton Eastell has been making waves in the real estate sector after he co-founded his own business in 2020.
The award-winning business based in Coolum Beach, which has partnered with New Farm real estate consultant UrbanX, sells and manages beautiful properties across the Sunshine Coast.
Mr Eastell previously worked at McGrath real estate before he established the business.
According to realestate.com, his median sale price is $1.31m.
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Originally published as Sunshine Coast, Noosa’s socialite success stories
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