2023 UTS Startups Summit

Dr Naomi Koh Belic: Our very first speaker is a young entrepreneur. They have a nearly six-figure online business built from the ground up from their experimental YouTube channel. Who here watches YouTube? Yeah, yeah, it's where your long format stuff lives. Marcus Radice-Jones has worked with companies that you may have heard of. Can I have a show of hands if you've heard of these companies? We've got Epic Games. How about HarperCollins? Readers in the room? Yes, we stand readers. Logitech? Okay, I've got one more for you. I don't know if you've heard of it... TikTok? Where are your hands? Better, better. Now that's just a couple of the businesses that Marcus has actually worked with. But he's really focused on aspiring YouTubers and mentoring them. He mentors people from over 80 different countries. And today, like each of the speakers who's going to come up on the stage, Marcus is really going to tell us about how he started, what he did, and most importantly, what he learned. A huge round of applause for Marcus.

Marcus Radice-Jones: Hello! How are you? This is so cool. I'm used to just speaking to like a camera, and so there's no one there. It's awesome to actually speak to people. But I want to take you all back to 2015. I'm 14 years old, and one day I wake up and I decide, 'You know, why don't I start a YouTube channel?' You know, as you do. Now it's kind of random because I had no passion, I had no YouTube knowledge, I had no plan. All I knew was that a couple of months ago, my cousin had posted a video and she had got like 20,000 views on that video. And I was like, 'Well, if she can do it, maybe I can too. Why not give it a go?' So I set about creating my first ever YouTube video. Grabbed my Windows 7 laptop and iPod, yes, iPod Touch, and watched a bunch of YouTube tutorials. Figured out how to record the video, and then I recorded my first ever YouTube video. And people sometimes ask me, 'Marcus, what was your first ever YouTube video like?' I want you to imagine the worst YouTube video you've ever watched in your entire life. Yeah, now multiply that video's badness by about 100x, and you're somewhere in the vein of my first YouTube video. And if you don't believe me, I've actually got a screenshot of it on screen. It was recorded in 480p because I had no idea how recording software works. And for those of you who aren't nerds, that is like incredibly blurry. Massive black bars because I got the resolution wrong. I was using my laptop's internal audio mic for the audio. So those of you, you know how bad laptop mics are nowadays, imagine back in 2015 on a Windows 7 laptop. It was atrocious. But despite that, I learned from it. And for some reason, I then made another video next week, and then another video the week after, and then another video the week after, and then another one. And they all sucked. But I was learning. And so I kept at it for over the next couple of months, posting videos after videos after videos, and they all flopped. But I became addicted to YouTube. It was kind of like a puzzle that I wanted to crack, the algorithm. So I kept learning, I kept posting, and I posted videos about Minecraft, I posted videos about Star Wars Battlefront, I posted Warframe, I posted CS:GO, I posted Mount & Blade, awesome game by the way if no one's tried it. I posted all of these different videos, and most of them all flopped. And so I got to a point where I realized, you know, there's these other YouTubers who are posting videos, and their videos aren't getting four views. So maybe I should just look at what they're doing and then do that instead. So I started studying these other YouTubers to try and break down what they were doing and how they were having their successes. And I spent so much time obsessively doing this. At one point, I spent so much time studying these British YouTubers that I actually developed a mild British accent, which was... it's very embarrassing if you go back and watch some of my older videos. But if we fast forward a bit, if we go to my one-year YouTube anniversary, I'm still an abject failure. Like, I really suck. Like, I've posted 65 different videos at this point. I'm 15 years old. I've tried 11 different games on my channel. I've tried 15 different formats and styles of video. And as a result of all that work, I've gained a whopping 150 subscribers. Thank you. So I was a complete failure. But something interesting happened over the course of that year, and that was I became passionate about doing YouTube. Now that might sound obvious and stupid, but I point that out because when I was younger, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. And everyone just keeps telling you, 'Follow your passions. Do what you're passionate about.' And I'm like, 'Well, that's great for some people, but like, I don't really know what my passions are.' I don't, or at least I don't have something that I'm passionate enough about that I'm like, 'Yes, I could do that for the rest of my life.' And you know, scrolling on TikTok isn't, unfortunately, something that doesn't work for our careers. So I basically just ended up finding, through trial and error, then instead of following your passions, at least what's worked for me, is exploring things that just mildly interest you. Something you hear about, and you're like, 'Oh, that's kind of cool.' Like, explore those things because they're clues. And sometimes they don't turn into passions. Most of the time they don't. But sometimes they do. And it can be really important to find those things because when you find those things that you can be passionate about, those things that when you're doing them, it feels like fun and looks like work to other people, you can become one of the best in the world at that thing. And when you become the best in the world at things, pretty cool things happen. Now it's gonna suck at times. One of the things that I really struggle with, to be honest, was embarrassment. I was terrified that my friends were going to find out about my channel and be like, 'You know, this dude's just some loser who's desperate for attention and social validation.' And believe it or not, that's not the kind of thing that makes people invite you to parties. I also thought, you know, people will find my videos and just be like, 'Why is he spending so much time on this thing that obviously sucks? No one cares about it. Look, he's got 150 subscribers.' And I bring this up because I think it's interesting because I never actually really got over those feelings. Like, I still had those insecurities. But I did it anyway. I think that's kind of an interesting thing I learned is you don't have to not feel that way. You don't have to be completely confident. You just have, you can feel those feelings, but just do it anyway. And when you do that, sometimes it can lead to a kind of cool place. So for me, well, that's led is we fast forward today, I'm 22 years old. And I took that first gaming channel I told you about in the beginning, that took a year to get 150 subscribers on, uh, that went to almost 25 million views. And when it was at the peak of its activity, it was evaluated to be worth a hundred and twenty thousand dollars. Thank you. As a result of those YouTube experiences, I also got to do some pretty cool jobs, including becoming a chief marketing strategist and one of the biggest agencies in my city, which is really funny because aside from YouTube, I didn't even have a marketing degree, right? Um, and now I'm basically a full-time YouTuber. I have another Channel that I work on. And I mean, that's also led to me starting a business which, and everyone's like, you know, sometimes your parents might be like, 'You know, you can't actually do that for a living.' Well, last month, not to flex, but last month my channel made more money than the average Australian medical doctor makes. Thank you. And more importantly, I get to do that while working on something I'm passionate about, being my own boss, and I can be anywhere in the world as long as I've got an internet connection. Now, do I share all this because I'm trying to flex? Because I'm some kind of big deal? The answer is no, right? The 14-year-old me did not predict any of this. What I'm trying to do though is just illustrate that there are real alternative paths to the traditional paths that maybe sometimes it feels like we're pushed down. Now I know that it's easy for me to kind of stand up here and and talk about all of that. So what I wanted to do is kind of give you a framework that at least the iPhone that kind of worked for me if this is something that sounds mildly interesting to you, and then I want to give you a challenge. So the framework, basically what worked for me is take notice, firstly, of the things that you find mildly interesting or the things you find mildly cool. Like you don't, you don't have to have an extreme extraordinary passion for that thing or feel like, you know, 'I'm meant to do this thing. I'm built for this thing.' But just take notice of those little, those little inklings. Once you find those things, try them. Like just give them a go, right? Just work with what you've got. Often people are like, 'I don't have the equipment. I don't have the software. I don't have all this stuff.' I run my current YouTube channel, which has over 100,000 subscribers, with a webcam and a 100 microphone, USB microphone. I do that intentionally to be like, you know, you don't really need much, right? You can just use your phone if it's YouTube. And then finally, when you're actually doing something and it starts to click with you, even if it's embarrassing, even if you have insecurities about it, if it really clicks with you, just keep doing it. Because sometimes it can lead to a really cool place. But like I said, talk is kind of cheap. So what I wanted to do with you guys is actually give you a challenge. So I'm willing to personally work with any one of you guys, or all of you guys if that's what it takes, and mentor you for free. I don't want anything from you to help you get to where you want to go, wherever that is. But there's a caveat. You need to do the following three things, all right? Firstly, I want you to read the book 'The Four Hour Work Week' cover to cover. Just trust me on that one. Secondly, I want you to pick one thing you're mildly interested in. It could be YouTube, could be something you hear about from one of the other awesome speakers today, could be something you hear about in the book. It doesn't really matter. It could be something else. Just pick one thing and work on it for 30 days, every single day, and document your progress, okay? And lastly, go follow me on Instagram because I still need a lot of social validation. Um, no, but follow me on Instagram because if you get home tonight and you're like, 'You know, that weird YouTube guy, I might actually take him up on his challenge.' When you complete my challenge, I want you to DM me on Instagram. And I say it's my personal Instagram because it is. Look at it, it's got like 200 followers. Like it's tiny. I will see your message. I will get back to you. And if you complete those two steps, like I said, I promise you, I will get back to you. I'll do everything I can to help you take your things to the next level or to connect you with someone who can help you take your thing to the next level. So does that sound fair? Hands up, does that sound fair? Yes, awesome. Well, I guess I want to close by saying one thing to those of you who might think about taking up the challenge, and that is remember that to begin with, whatever you do is gonna suck. It's just gonna. That's just how it works, right? But I want you to push through that. If you can push through and try it for at least 30 days, every single day, because every successful person who is successful at anything, every successful YouTuber, their first video sucked. Every successful business owner, their first product probably flopped, right? So just push through that because you never know where it could lead. It could lead somewhere pretty cool. So if you have an internet connection, that's all you need. I hope some of you take me off on my challenge. I hope to hear from some of you in a month or two from now. I've been Marcus Jones. Thank you very much.

Dr Naomi Koh Belic: You know, I love what you were saying about following things that you're like mildly passionate about. I think for me, one of the biggest things is to always keep moving. Like, I feel like we have such fluid careers that are going to be going in all different directions. Now we do have Aaron. Aren't you warm?

Aaron Ngan: I am warmed up and ready to go, yes.

Dr Naomi Koh Belic: If anybody has any questions, start sticking your hands up. Aaron's going to run to you. In the meantime, I'm just going to chat to chat to you for a little bit. Do you know MBTI?

Marcus Radice-Jones: Do I have one? Do you know your MBTI? What's that?

Dr Naomi Koh Belic: No. Who here knows their MBTI? Who's... yeah, I did mine in school as well. Do you think you're extroverted or introverted?

Marcus Radice-Jones: Alright, so I'm... yeah, I did a test. I'm 49% extroverted, 51% introverted.

Dr Naomi Koh Belic: Are we the same person? Oh, there's like three of us. Four or five. There's a couple. There's a couple. Um, I think it's really interesting seeing and hearing from the perspective of someone who's really introverted. Do you have any tips for anybody else who might be introverted as well and navigating a career like yours?

Marcus Radice-Jones: Yeah, um, I think it depends on... I think it really depends on what type of content you're creating, I guess. So like, if you're creating a type of content that's very focused on you, and like, you know, vlog content would be a really obvious example of that, and you're a really introverted person, I actually probably wouldn't recommend that. Because even while the idea of, or you might see these vloggers traveling the world and filming themselves, it looks kind of cool. If it goes against your personality, I think you'll probably start to feel drained with it. And that's... that's what happened to me with that first gaming channel. I actually... I didn't really... I realized I didn't actually like being the 100% center of attention, believe it or not, as much as it seems like I accept my voice. Um, and so that's why I switched to this new channel where, you know, it is a YouTube channel, and you know, there's still people who watch the content, but it's very... it's more focused on the education. And so the education is the star, not me.

Dr Naomi Koh Belic: Yeah, I love that. Now the best thing about being here is that we can... we can hook their hand up and Aaron can come running to you. Oh, we've got one right at the back there, right at the back. Let's go. Alright, go out here. We go, go Aaron. We believe in you. Don't stuck. Yeah, alright, here we go. What is your name? Here's the microphone and tell us what school you're from.

Highschool student: Hi, my name is Isabel Henderson and I'm from Northholme Grammar. Um, I would... the question that I would like to ask is, do you have any tips on establishing a social media for a brand or how would you start that for a brand?

Marcus Radice-Jones: That's a good question. Um, I think obviously we depend a little bit on the brand. Um, but I guess a general tip that I usually like to give is create content, not advertisements. So a lot of people, they'll get out there and they'll create a social media for their brand, but it's all about the brand. It's just basically like a product showcase. I think you should try and find a really cool piece of content that you can create that involves that brand. Because people are going to watch for the content, and then if they like the content, they might stick around for the brand and get in that way.

Dr Naomi Koh Belic: Yes, any other questions out there? We can't... please, Marcus, that's an unfortunate position. Aaron's all the way up there. I'm not... I'm all the way up here, but we'll get to all the questions afterwards. I think knowing we've got a shift to the next speaker, but thank you. I'll speak to you after. Come find me. A challenge, take off the challenge. Thank you.

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Dr Naomi Koh Belic: 19 years old Angie 1 co-founded consent Labs, a youth-led not-for-profit dedicated to ending gender-based violence through consent education. Her organization has now reached over 46,000 individuals across Australia, delivering impactful programs to schools and universities. Angie's outstanding efforts have not gone unnoticed. She has oodles of awards. I'm just going to list a couple for you. Okay, we've got 2023 Forbes Asia 30 under 30 honoree, that's a flex. 2022 New South Wales young women of the year and a top 25 female entrepreneur as listed by Instagram. Can we have a huge round of applause for Angie?

Angelique Wan: Hey everyone, I am Angie, and I am co-founder and CEO of Consent Labs. As was introduced, Consent Labs is a not-for-profit that works with 40,000 high school and University students every single year across Australia to empower young people with consent education. And we do this work ultimately so that all young people have the tools, have the language to be able to engage in healthy and respectful relationships. Now, the title of CEO, it doesn't feel super comfortable to me, it doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. And I think the reason for that is because I didn't co-found Consent Labs to start an organization or to become a CEO. I co-founded Consent Labs to change the lived experience of young people, young people like yourselves, for the better. And that was because when I was 19, my lived experience or my experience was one of really normalized sexual violence, a really trivialized sexual violence. And I co-founded Consent Labs to start a movement, to accelerate the change that I wanted to see in society's attitudes around consent. But similar to Marcus, I want to rewind a little bit, and I want to take you back to high school because my high school self had no idea that this is what I'd be doing today. So there I am, I'm in year 12, and I'm so academically focused. I'm growing up in a culturally diverse household, my dad is Chinese, my mom is Greek, and my parents really care about my studies and how well I'm doing, and so therefore so do I. I put a lot of effort into making sure that I'm doing really well at school. I do a lot of extracurriculars, I'm in leadership positions, I'm a prefect. But underneath all of that, I'm really confused. I'm confused about what it is that I'm working towards because I have no idea what it is that I want to do after school. You know how we all have that one friend who knows exactly what it is that they're doing after school or what they want to do with their life? I was always really jealous of those people because I was really lost. And so I was led by what my parents wanted and what they thought was a good career. And for them, it was, you know, the really traditional being a doctor, going to study business, going to study law. And looking back now, I realized that I was really set on the traditional success ideals. I had no idea about what I was passionate about, what I cared about. Passion didn't really factor into it for me at all. And I never really thought about things like entrepreneurship. I had no idea what the word was, no idea what it meant, couldn't even pronounce it. So it wasn't something that I was thinking about doing when I was in high school, year 12. So fast forward two years, I get offered a scholarship to study at UTS, and so I accept. I'm living on campus, absolutely loving it, highly recommend if any of you go to university to live on campus. And I'm chatting to a good friend, Joyce. And Joyce and I are reflecting, we're reflecting on what it's like to live on campus, what it's like to be dating for the first time because technically I wasn't allowed to date in high school, technically. And how to navigate all of that stuff. Like that's really confusing, you know, who makes the first move, how do you make the first move, what does it mean if I make the first move, what are the expectations after a first date, what does it mean if you meet online? And navigating all of that stuff was really hard because no one had ever had conversations with us about it, about dating, about relationships, about communications, about sex. And that got Joyce and I thinking, yeah, I said the word sex. And I thinking, and we were thinking back to our high school sex ed, and you know about those the P.E. classes that we'd gone through and our teachers making us put a condom on a banana, hands off if anyone's had to do that, yeah. And also watching that tea video, has anyone watched the tea video, yeah. And it also got us thinking about how words like consent, boundaries, respect, empathy, like none of those words had ever been used. And as a result, we weren't really being set up to be able to engage in good quality relationships but instead, we were being allowed to settle for really toxic ones. And it also got us thinking about how so many of our friends, of our peers, had experienced sexual violence but didn't have the language to be able to identify it, nor the knowledge of the support avenues in order to seek help. And so that leads Joyce and I to what we think is a simple question, why don't we just make sex ed better? You know, why don't we broaden it to include conversations around consent? Let's make it more inclusive, let's make it more engaging, let's make it more fun, let's make it more positive, let's make it all of these things that our own experience was not. And so we turn to each other, Joyce and I, and we think, we as young people get it, we get the need, we get the vision, surely the adults are gonna get it. Do we think the adults get it? No, spoiler, no, the adults don't get it. For another five years. And building Consent Labs was hard for the first five years. You know, building trust and relationships with educators, principals, building my team, building my leadership skills was really challenging. But along the way, I've learned, you know, two really key pieces of advice that I wanted to share with you all. The first one being, trust in your voice as a young person. You know, when I think about the changes that we've seen, sort of specifically in the consent space that I work in, the changes to legislation, to education, to conversations that we're having as a society, it's really led by young people who saw an injustice and who demanded for more. I think of people like Chanel Contos, the tens of thousands of young people who submitted testimonies to her petition. I think about Consent Labs facilitators who go into schools every single day and deliver engaging education. I think of high school students who advocate for their teachers to bring in our Consent Labs education programs to their school because they felt like their school wasn't doing enough. And it's young people like this that are cultivating the change that will lead to a more positive society. My second piece of advice is, get comfortable with rejection. And I don't mean rejection in the dating sense, although you should also get comfortable with that too. But get comfortable with hearing the word no. Get comfortable with hearing it, get comfortable in sitting with it, and get comfortable with persevering through it. In the first few years of Consent Labs, the first four to five years, actually, we heard no constantly. It was the only word that we were hearing. We didn't hear a yes. We'd send hundreds of emails to schools asking to work with them. Not only would we hear a no, but we'd actually be really lucky if we heard anything back at all. But it was the skill of sitting with it and persevering, and persevering because we knew that we were onto something really important, that means that I'm here today. And I think if you learn to do that, if you learn to get comfortable with it, it'll mean that you'll be someone who is bold, someone who is curious, someone who's resilient. And it's those traits that will serve you well no matter what it is that you do. And I think that's the truth about entrepreneurship, to be honest, it's really hard. But it's also given me opportunities that I never would have gotten if I wasn't doing this. You know, at the age of 26, I have grown an organization from the ground up. I lead strategy, I hire people, I fire people. But most importantly, I make an impact. I make a real impact in the world. And I think that's what I want to share with you today. You know, if it wasn't for this opportunity, I wouldn't have achieved these milestones. And so if you get comfortable with rejection and if you learn to trust in your voice, no matter what it is you do in high school or afterwards, you can achieve those things too. Thank you.

Dr Naomi Koh Belic: Can we get another round of applause for Angie, please? Yes, yes. I'm incredibly grateful for the work that you do. I think um we had very similar lives. I also lived in student housing at UTS. I've had like those same conversations in that little, if any of you go there, there's like this little area where I feel like I could imagine your chat, it's my mind happened. And I think it's so interesting because I was in the same position where I'd also experienced sexual violence but just didn't have the language to talk about it. And I've seen the value of consent education, um, that education that rolled out throughout my University group and my PhD cohort. It started a lot of conversations that I think were really, really valuable and had a very measurable impact. So I'm super, super grateful for that, thank you. Um, we'll have time for one question if you want to stick your hand up while Aaron runs to you. Aaron can find whoever has their hand up. I think I really did want to ask you about tips for reframing success because that's so hard to do. Do you have any advice for anyone here about how you maybe measure success now or how they could think about success?

Angelique Wan: Oh, that's a really good question. I think oftentimes when people think about success, it's often in terms of external factors like how much money have I made or how many awards have I been nominated or won. Um, but I think you can get those things, and you'll only be happy for a really short span of time. And I think you'll be surprised at how short that span of time is. I think for me, it's always deeply been about the why. Yeah, why do I do the work that I do? And you know, I worked in the banking industry for a few years before I went full time on Consent Labs, and that same connection to why was not there. Um, and I think I didn't feel successful in that role in the banking industry, and I feel that not every single day with Consent Labs. There are some bad days, but every single day I know that we're moving towards a bigger picture and something that's really good for society. So yeah, I think base it intrinsically, not externally, is what I would say.

Dr Naomi Koh Belic: I love that, that's beautiful and so important. Aaron, have you found anyone to answer the questions?

Aaron Ngan: We've got someone from Marrackville High, let's pass from the microphone. So just say your name for us.

Highschool student: Um, my name's Kalila. I just don't ask a question. Um, how did your parents feel about you not doing what they wanted you to do?

Angelique Wan: Well, that is a sore point, no I'm kidding. Um, they were so confused. They had no idea what consent education was, what the hell I was doing. And it took them like a good couple of years to really understand why I cared about the work that I do. They thankfully now do get it. But I remember, you know, calling my mum, I told her that I was quitting my full-time job in a bank, and she was like, why? Like, you've studied so hard, you work in a really prestigious organization, like you could do so many things. Like that was her idea of success. Um, and I sort of had to explain to her that my idea of success or like fulfillment in life was different. Um, so it was a bit of a journey with them, that's for sure. But um, I think, you know, they can ultimately say that I'm happy, Consent Labs is doing well, and we're making an impact in the world. And so thankfully they're now on board.

Dr Naomi Koh Belic: I love that, thank you. Um, can we please have Jessamy's art come up on screen? Jessamy's we're making all of these sketch notes throughout this, which are really incredible. I think if we could, we could keep one screen with Jessamy's sketch notes up, that'd be beautiful because I think the process of how you create all of these is really wonderful as well. And don't worry, we'll have all of these available for you at the end. Can we have one more massive round of applause for Angie, please? Thank you.

Consent Labs - UTS Startups Summit 2023

Dr Naomi Koh Belic: 19 years old Angie 1 co-founded consent Labs, a youth-led not-for-profit dedicated to ending gender-based violence through consent education. Her organization has now reached over 46,000 individuals across Australia, delivering impactful programs to schools and universities. Angie's outstanding efforts have not gone unnoticed. She has oodles of awards. I'm just going to list a couple for you. Okay, we've got 2023 Forbes Asia 30 under 30 honoree, that's a flex. 2022 New South Wales young women of the year and a top 25 female entrepreneur as listed by Instagram. Can we have a huge round of applause for Angie?

Angelique Wan: Hey everyone, I am Angie, and I am co-founder and CEO of Consent Labs. As was introduced, Consent Labs is a not-for-profit that works with 40,000 high school and University students every single year across Australia to empower young people with consent education. And we do this work ultimately so that all young people have the tools, have the language to be able to engage in healthy and respectful relationships. Now, the title of CEO, it doesn't feel super comfortable to me, it doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. And I think the reason for that is because I didn't co-found Consent Labs to start an organization or to become a CEO. I co-founded Consent Labs to change the lived experience of young people, young people like yourselves, for the better. And that was because when I was 19, my lived experience or my experience was one of really normalized sexual violence, a really trivialized sexual violence. And I co-founded Consent Labs to start a movement, to accelerate the change that I wanted to see in society's attitudes around consent. But similar to Marcus, I want to rewind a little bit, and I want to take you back to high school because my high school self had no idea that this is what I'd be doing today. So there I am, I'm in year 12, and I'm so academically focused. I'm growing up in a culturally diverse household, my dad is Chinese, my mom is Greek, and my parents really care about my studies and how well I'm doing, and so therefore so do I. I put a lot of effort into making sure that I'm doing really well at school. I do a lot of extracurriculars, I'm in leadership positions, I'm a prefect. But underneath all of that, I'm really confused. I'm confused about what it is that I'm working towards because I have no idea what it is that I want to do after school. You know how we all have that one friend who knows exactly what it is that they're doing after school or what they want to do with their life? I was always really jealous of those people because I was really lost. And so I was led by what my parents wanted and what they thought was a good career. And for them, it was, you know, the really traditional being a doctor, going to study business, going to study law. And looking back now, I realized that I was really set on the traditional success ideals. I had no idea about what I was passionate about, what I cared about. Passion didn't really factor into it for me at all. And I never really thought about things like entrepreneurship. I had no idea what the word was, no idea what it meant, couldn't even pronounce it. So it wasn't something that I was thinking about doing when I was in high school, year 12. So fast forward two years, I get offered a scholarship to study at UTS, and so I accept. I'm living on campus, absolutely loving it, highly recommend if any of you go to university to live on campus. And I'm chatting to a good friend, Joyce. And Joyce and I are reflecting, we're reflecting on what it's like to live on campus, what it's like to be dating for the first time because technically I wasn't allowed to date in high school, technically. And how to navigate all of that stuff. Like that's really confusing, you know, who makes the first move, how do you make the first move, what does it mean if I make the first move, what are the expectations after a first date, what does it mean if you meet online? And navigating all of that stuff was really hard because no one had ever had conversations with us about it, about dating, about relationships, about communications, about sex. And that got Joyce and I thinking, yeah, I said the word sex. And I thinking, and we were thinking back to our high school sex ed, and you know about those the P.E. classes that we'd gone through and our teachers making us put a condom on a banana, hands off if anyone's had to do that, yeah. And also watching that tea video, has anyone watched the tea video, yeah. And it also got us thinking about how words like consent, boundaries, respect, empathy, like none of those words had ever been used. And as a result, we weren't really being set up to be able to engage in good quality relationships but instead, we were being allowed to settle for really toxic ones. And it also got us thinking about how so many of our friends, of our peers, had experienced sexual violence but didn't have the language to be able to identify it, nor the knowledge of the support avenues in order to seek help. And so that leads Joyce and I to what we think is a simple question, why don't we just make sex ed better? You know, why don't we broaden it to include conversations around consent? Let's make it more inclusive, let's make it more engaging, let's make it more fun, let's make it more positive, let's make it all of these things that our own experience was not. And so we turn to each other, Joyce and I, and we think, we as young people get it, we get the need, we get the vision, surely the adults are gonna get it. Do we think the adults get it? No, spoiler, no, the adults don't get it. For another five years. And building Consent Labs was hard for the first five years. You know, building trust and relationships with educators, principals, building my team, building my leadership skills was really challenging. But along the way, I've learned, you know, two really key pieces of advice that I wanted to share with you all. The first one being, trust in your voice as a young person. You know, when I think about the changes that we've seen, sort of specifically in the consent space that I work in, the changes to legislation, to education, to conversations that we're having as a society, it's really led by young people who saw an injustice and who demanded for more. I think of people like Chanel Contos, the tens of thousands of young people who submitted testimonies to her petition. I think about Consent Labs facilitators who go into schools every single day and deliver engaging education. I think of high school students who advocate for their teachers to bring in our Consent Labs education programs to their school because they felt like their school wasn't doing enough. And it's young people like this that are cultivating the change that will lead to a more positive society. My second piece of advice is, get comfortable with rejection. And I don't mean rejection in the dating sense, although you should also get comfortable with that too. But get comfortable with hearing the word no. Get comfortable with hearing it, get comfortable in sitting with it, and get comfortable with persevering through it. In the first few years of Consent Labs, the first four to five years, actually, we heard no constantly. It was the only word that we were hearing. We didn't hear a yes. We'd send hundreds of emails to schools asking to work with them. Not only would we hear a no, but we'd actually be really lucky if we heard anything back at all. But it was the skill of sitting with it and persevering, and persevering because we knew that we were onto something really important, that means that I'm here today. And I think if you learn to do that, if you learn to get comfortable with it, it'll mean that you'll be someone who is bold, someone who is curious, someone who's resilient. And it's those traits that will serve you well no matter what it is that you do. And I think that's the truth about entrepreneurship, to be honest, it's really hard. But it's also given me opportunities that I never would have gotten if I wasn't doing this. You know, at the age of 26, I have grown an organization from the ground up. I lead strategy, I hire people, I fire people. But most importantly, I make an impact. I make a real impact in the world. And I think that's what I want to share with you today. You know, if it wasn't for this opportunity, I wouldn't have achieved these milestones. And so if you get comfortable with rejection and if you learn to trust in your voice, no matter what it is you do in high school or afterwards, you can achieve those things too. Thank you.

Dr Naomi Koh Belic: Can we get another round of applause for Angie, please? Yes, yes. I'm incredibly grateful for the work that you do. I think um we had very similar lives. I also lived in student housing at UTS. I've had like those same conversations in that little, if any of you go there, there's like this little area where I feel like I could imagine your chat, it's my mind happened. And I think it's so interesting because I was in the same position where I'd also experienced sexual violence but just didn't have the language to talk about it. And I've seen the value of consent education, um, that education that rolled out throughout my University group and my PhD cohort. It started a lot of conversations that I think were really, really valuable and had a very measurable impact. So I'm super, super grateful for that, thank you. Um, we'll have time for one question if you want to stick your hand up while Aaron runs to you. Aaron can find whoever has their hand up. I think I really did want to ask you about tips for reframing success because that's so hard to do. Do you have any advice for anyone here about how you maybe measure success now or how they could think about success?

Angelique Wan: Oh, that's a really good question. I think oftentimes when people think about success, it's often in terms of external factors like how much money have I made or how many awards have I been nominated or won. Um, but I think you can get those things, and you'll only be happy for a really short span of time. And I think you'll be surprised at how short that span of time is. I think for me, it's always deeply been about the why. Yeah, why do I do the work that I do? And you know, I worked in the banking industry for a few years before I went full time on Consent Labs, and that same connection to why was not there. Um, and I think I didn't feel successful in that role in the banking industry, and I feel that not every single day with Consent Labs. There are some bad days, but every single day I know that we're moving towards a bigger picture and something that's really good for society. So yeah, I think base it intrinsically, not externally, is what I would say.

Dr Naomi Koh Belic: I love that, that's beautiful and so important. Aaron, have you found anyone to answer the questions? 

Aaron Ngan: We've got someone from Marrackville High, let's pass from the microphone. So just say your name for us.

Highschool student: Um, my name's Kalila. I just don't ask a question. Um, how did your parents feel about you not doing what they wanted you to do? 

Angelique Wan: Well, that is a sore point, no I'm kidding. Um, they were so confused. They had no idea what consent education was, what the hell I was doing. And it took them like a good couple of years to really understand why I cared about the work that I do. They thankfully now do get it. But I remember, you know, calling my mum, I told her that I was quitting my full-time job in a bank, and she was like, why? Like, you've studied so hard, you work in a really prestigious organization, like you could do so many things. Like that was her idea of success. Um, and I sort of had to explain to her that my idea of success or like fulfillment in life was different. Um, so it was a bit of a journey with them, that's for sure. But um, I think, you know, they can ultimately say that I'm happy, Consent Labs is doing well, and we're making an impact in the world. And so thankfully they're now on board.

Dr Naomi Koh Belic: I love that, thank you. Um, can we please have Jessamy's art come up on screen? Jessamy's we're making all of these sketch notes throughout this, which are really incredible. I think if we could, we could keep one screen with Jessamy's sketch notes up, that'd be beautiful because I think the process of how you create all of these is really wonderful as well. And don't worry, we'll have all of these available for you at the end. Can we have one more massive round of applause for Angie, please? Thank you.

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Dr Naomi Koh Belic: So we're going to hear from our next speaker, my favorite, Nakisah Williams. She is the co-founder of Craft Club, Australia's fastest-growing craft e-commerce offering. Nakisah's mission with Craft Club is to empower creativity through easy and unique DIY kits. I'm sure you've seen their best-selling rug-making kits have garnered a global following, reaching thousands of customers worldwide. With a background in fashion buying, retail, and marketing, Nakisah has successfully scaled Craft Club over the past two years, creating a vibrant community of craft lovers. She's really excited about the next chapter, and I'll let her share that with you when she's up here. Can we please welcome to the stage the queen of craft and queen of many front fringes, Nakisah!

Nakisah Williams: Oh my gosh, it's incredible to be here. Hi everyone, my name is Nakisa, and I was going to give a little intro to Craft Club, but I feel like Naomi's one was pretty perfect. But I wanted to come here today to tell you a little bit about my long and windy journey to becoming an entrepreneur because when I was sitting in your position, I definitely didn't think I would be here in 10 years' time. So, with that, let's start at the beginning. I don't know if you can tell, but the person who I was in high school was not the most confident in her decision makings. And I don't know whether it was because of my botched fringe that I thought was a really good idea to cut myself or whether it was just the general pressure and stress that comes with being so young and having to decide what you want to do with the rest of your life when you're only like 15, 16, 17. But yeah, I felt the stress. For me, I was really torn. I loved art and design, creativity. That was what I could spend my whole life doing. But my family, they came from an immigrant background, and they really had the idea of me kind of taking the safe route and following a path that they thought would be stable and, you know, lead to me being able to provide for my kids one day and be safe. And I really did feel torn. I wanted to prove to them that I could be successful. I wanted to listen to what they say, but then I also wanted to follow my passions too, and it was really hard to choose. In the end, when I did pack up my bags and moved from my little country town to Sydney to study, I listened to their advice and I went to study an accounting degree. I really thought that I'd smash that degree, I'd enjoy it, I'd go work at a corporate, climb the ladder, and pretty much live happily ever after. It may not surprise you that that didn't really happen. Instead, halfway through my degree, I decided to change paths and follow a career in fashion instead. That actually was a really awesome choice. I think looking back on it, it led me to some really amazing experiences. I got to travel to New York to work at New York Fashion Week. I got to work with some really fun brands during my time working in the sort of business side of fashion. But a few years in, I still found myself in a relatively corporate environment, feeling rather trapped. I was working super hard, as anyone who is ambitious here will know. No matter what you do, you'll work super hard if you're wanting to prove yourself. But to what end? Late nights for some faceless, nameless boss? I wasn't growing anything for myself. And it was during that time that I realized, you know what? I want to do this for me and not for someone else. And I decided the best way to do that was to give myself a little career break and go back and study, which is how I came to study at UTS. When I went to study, it gave me the space and the structure to look at entrepreneurship in a new way and actually see that it was possible because until then, I'd just not seen it as a viable career path. And it was during my time studying that I finally found the spark that would lead to Craft Club. It was just after our first lockdown, and I had been in Spotlight looking for a DIY kit to do, and everything I saw sucked. It was designed for my grandma and not myself. And I just thought, 'Oh my god, there has to be a better way.' And because I had been studying, I thought, 'You know what? I could actually create that better way.' Since when I first had that idea, it took maybe six months of development before we had our first product, which is a cross-stitch kit that we were selling online. And then six months after that was when we really blew up. We created these rug-making kits, or I created these rug-making kits, inspired by the rug tufting trend that was really big on TikTok. And that kind of coincided with our second long lockdown, and it led to our business just booming. We started selling rugs all over the world. I was fulfilling them, as you can see from the little photo there, I was fulfilling them myself from our living room. And it was the exciting start of a really exciting time. Just a couple of years later now, we've sold thousands and thousands of rugs to customers all over the world, and I've even been on TV talking about them before. And I'm really excited to see how we expand. But all that good stuff doesn't come without the bad, and there were a few challenges along the way. For us, copycats are definitely a big challenge. On more than one occasion, we've had some other big brands try and steal our ideas and our designs. And even though it's kind of hard to challenge that, the great thing about it was that we've built such a strong community and a strong brand that people, like our community, was ready to fight over it. They were ready to send the DMs, write in the comments to those other businesses trying to copy us. And in the end, it ended up helping us become an even stronger business. Another challenge that I think is maybe less unique to Craft Club and just true for everyone, and I'm sure you guys can relate to as well, is the comparison. Comparing yourself when you're trying to start a business is so hard. Whether you're looking at other businesses that you admire and you aspire to be like, and you're just assuming they're making millions of dollars, that really sucks. Whether you're looking at influencers and seeing how much they've grown on social media and maybe you haven't done the same, it can be really, really tough. But I think that doesn't necessarily change as you grow bigger. The important thing is to remember that the opinions of those that might judge you really don't matter, and the people that support you and the people that will lift you up are the opinions that matter. Finally, to me, I think the good stuff about running a business far, far outweighs the bad. I would never ever go back and change my decision to grow Craft Club because the amount of opportunities and just the amount of good stuff it's given me is honestly unbelievable. I get to wake up every single day and choose my own hours and pretty much spend the whole day doing things that I love. I get to make cool stuff and share it with the world, and it's honestly so much fun. Another fantastic thing about creating a business is the community and the people that you get to meet. Through things like today, where I get to stand in front of you with UTS Startups, I've met some awesome businesses and made some really good friendships in that community. And also, getting to share, even the community you create with the business, getting to share moments with people where they say customers say that they've had really struggled with mental health and a kit has helped them so much in their journey. Or even hearing from a customer who bought a kit for their young kid who was having motor function problems and it really helped them. That kind of stuff just is amazing, and it really fills your cup and fills that purpose and passion. And finally, I think the best thing about running your own business is the opportunities that it gives you. You get to have your hands on the wheel of your own life. You get to choose a direction that you want to grow that business. For me, I've always wanted to live overseas, and I know that's something I'll be able to make happen through Craft Club. Earlier this year, we got to go over to the UK, as you can see over in the top corner. I got to go, we visited a warehouse there that we want to work with soon, and it was just so exciting to know that you're able to choose the direction you want to go in and not just wait till a boss that doesn't really care about you says that you can or can't do something. I think if there's one thing that you guys should take away from this, it's that entrepreneurship comes in so many shapes and forms. Whether you leave this summit feeling super hyped and you're ready to make your idea a reality straight away, you're gonna go sign up to Shopify straight away and create your business, or whether this stays at the back of your mind and maybe you do follow a more traditional route and go to uni in a more traditional career, work for a few years, you might still find that one day entrepreneurship is for you. Thank you guys so much, it's been awesome.

Dr Naomi Koh Belic: That was lovely. Okay, who here has seen those rugs? Yeah, they're so beautiful. I love them so much. You know, we were talking before, and I feel like one of the hardest things about being the daughter of immigrants and being a first-gen uni student kind of moving through that space is navigating parental support of your ideas. 

Nakisah Williams: It's tough. It is, it's really tough. 

Dr Naomi Koh Belic: We've been touching it a little bit with Angie as well. My mum wanted the same thing that your mum wanted, right? My mum really wanted me to be an accountant. That was her really strong dream for me. And it makes sense because in my mum's family, an accountant was the highest education that we had, and my auntie had this wonderful career and this wonderful life. So that's what my mum wanted for me. But it's really important to remember that while our parents come from a place of love and really good intentions, they actually don't always know what's best for us. Oftentimes, we do. So do you have any advice for really navigating those conversations with parents and how to get your parents on your side if you are doing something non-traditional?

Nakisah Williams: Yeah, I think it is a case of slowly educating your family. For me, that honestly took years. I kind of planted the seeds when I was young. The biggest step was when I told my family I was dropping out of uni to go study fashion, and they were like, 'What the heck, that's crazy,' because they literally thought fashion was like modeling, and that was literally the only job in fashion that existed. But slowly educating them, showing them people, whether it was online or in person, people that had successful careers in that industry, being like, 'Yeah, mum, look, it's normal, it's great, look how successful they are.' Slowly that got them there. And now, many years later, my mom is the biggest fan of Craft Club. She'll comment on every single thing I post. So, we got there.

Dr Naomi Koh Belic: So beautiful. Can we have a huge round of applause for Nakisah?

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Dr Naomi Koh Belic: What's started in Dilhan's parents' garage has now blossomed into an international company selling indoor gardening equipment in Australia, New Zealand, and the UK, with plans to expand to the US and Europe too. A huge round of applause for Dilhan!

Dilhan Wickremanayake: Great song to walk into. Great to be here, everyone. I know you're just a couple of minutes away from lunch, so I'll try to tell my story in a way that is as exciting to you and speaks to where you might be right now. To begin with, I'll talk about where I was when I was in high school and the key things that brought me through my journey in entrepreneurship, business, and life. The two main themes of what I'm going to talk about are going with the flow and taking a bit of risk. Where was I when I was in Year 10 or Year 12? I had no idea what I wanted to do. I was fairly average. I liked sport, playing cricket and rugby in school. My grades were pretty average again. I had no direction of what I wanted to do after school. I usually filled that time up instead of doing any work with playing video games. Has anyone here heard of League of Legends? In Year 10, that's when I first started playing the game. By the time I got to Year 12, I had spent 74 days on the game. I remember going to the guidance counselor and saying, 'Hey, I really want to figure out what I want to do after school.' They just said, 'Well, what do you want to do?' I had no idea what I wanted to do. That's why I'm coming to you. I want you to give me some advice. After a while, she opened up her book with all the ATAR numbers and said, 'What do you like?' I said I'm good at science and history. How about I do one of those? She said, 'Okay, 92.' But that didn't tell me anything about potential earnings, how long the degree is, or whether it's even worth doing. I was confused the whole year. I went all the way through my HSC, eventually finished up school, got my ATAR, and when it came to figuring out what I wanted to do and whether I wanted to go to uni, I finally decided, 'Let's pick engineering and business.' They're the two closest things to what I was good at in school. Even through my first two years of university, I had no idea what I wanted to do after university. I had a 5-year degree, so I just filled that time wasting it. The first two years of uni, I had pretty poor grades. I was going out with friends a lot. I had a lot of fun. I did a lot of travel, but I had no direction. That all changed in my third year of uni, where I realized the thing that mattered the most to me was climate change, and I wanted to be part of that solution. I started doing some research and thinking about areas that needed help, where I could commit my career to. Eventually, I landed on two main areas. One was energy. Right now, energy is the biggest transition going on in the world. The whole world is moving from a fossil fuel grid into a renewable one. That has a lot of challenges but also a lot of opportunity. It's one of the most exciting places that you could be right now. So I figured, as an engineer, I'll try to get a job in there. I worked on my grades. In my third year, I finally started, gave myself a kick up the butt, and started getting a bit better at uni. I hustled really hard and eventually got an internship working in geothermal power. Then I took that on and started doing solar and energy efficiency, which I later did as a grad job. At the same time, when I was thinking about energy and going into that and starting to lay that foundation, I also realized that agriculture accounted for over 70% of Australia's water consumption. This was around 2015-2016. At that time, Australia, New South Wales, was in the longest drought in recorded history. So I saw this huge problem that no one really seemed to be addressing, and I wanted to solve it. My research led me into hydroponics, which is a technology that uses 90% less water than conventional agriculture. It uses less space, takes up less time, and can be done near cities. So you could fill this room with a bunch of PVC pipes and basically have a farm growing right here, right in the middle of the city, delivering food to people all around the city. I got really interested in it and started tinkering. I learned a lot through my initial tinkering. I got PVC pipes at Bunnings, drilled holes into it, found hydroponic nutrients, compared it with the regular fertilizer that you get at Bunnings, and bit by bit, I started piecing it all together. But I had no direction. I was still going with the flow. Eventually, I went to a uni camp and met this guy called Peter. We just got along fine. We were chatting. It wasn't until 3 months later when I was out with a mutual friend, and he said, 'Oh, you're doing hydroponics. So is Peter. You should chat.' So, going with the flow, I sent Peter a message the next day. We had a phone call, and we basically went through our ideas about hydroponics and what we could do. He was a serial entrepreneur. He started three or four things before, and he really just wanted to have a business. He had this idea: What if regular people, everyday people, could have a hydroponic farm within their own house? What if it was the size of a toaster, and you could put it on your kitchen bench and grow your own herbs and leafy greens and not have to go to the supermarket, not see dead basil, not have to throw out the plastic packaging when you're done with it? So we got together and eventually realized, 'Let's do this.' We invested $11,000 each and ordered a sample of products from a manufacturer in China. Then we just started building a buzz around it. We sort of just went with the flow until, in 2021, two years ago, we got a $500,000 order from Costco. At that point, we were working other jobs, and we basically had to quit our day jobs and go full-time on the business. We had to find a warehouse, which is in Marrickville, and we signed a lease. We basically just dove into it and said, 'Alright, let's be full-time entrepreneurs. Let's see where this business can take us. Let's see what we can do.' And it's just been the most rewarding thing I've ever done. So, moving forward from that experience and starting this business, which, as you can see in some of these photos in a second, will have the amazing potential to help people grow food, I'd say my biggest piece of advice to people is: Be a bit comfortable not knowing what you're doing. As long as you're learning and following your curiosity, you'll get there. If you work hard and just keep staying at something and following your interests and being curious, the problems will sort of figure themselves out as you spend some time on it. So I guess that's everything about Urban Plant Growers. If you're interested in finding out more, check out our website. We are rebranding to Gathera, so if you type in 'Urban Plant Growers' into Google, you'll still find us, but our name will change, our style will change, all of our products are changing. We're in the process of manufacturing a whole different range of stuff out of aluminum, which is incredibly stressful and difficult, but it's going to be one of the most interesting things that we do. So, yeah, thank you.

Dr Naomi Koh Belic: A huge round of applause for Dilhan. I really love that you had found a problem and then you were working to solve it. For anyone here who's going to be wandering through their lives, maybe finding a couple of problems along the way and going, 'Damn, I want to try and solve that too,' do you have any practical tips on how to start your research or who you can lean on? How did you start that journey?

Dilhan Wickremanayake: YouTube was incredible for hydroponics. There are so many people with so much knowledge and advice that if you go out on YouTube, do a bit of searching, you'll find someone who has some of the answers. But then you really just got to get stuck in. You got to start testing on your own and figuring things out. You got to get your hands into it. With agriculture and growing plants, it took quite a while because you'd have to test something, and then it would be 3 weeks until your plants die or survive. So it takes a while to iterate and learn, but just get into it. Do first and then start thinking a bit later. Eventually, you know, it's been 5 years now, and now I'm starting to think. But the last 5 years, I was just doing and sort of going with the flow, and I've learned an incredible amount.

Dr Naomi Koh Belic: It's the best way to learn. I love that. That was really brilliant advice. Thank you so much, Dilhan. A huge round of applause, please.

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Dr Naomi Koh Belic: I am absolutely excited to introduce our next featured speaker Emily Bobis is a trailblazer in the world of technology and Mobility Emily's first business before the one we're going to hear about Compass iot started out counting cows using satellites but today she's working out lots of new and interesting ways to make use of the data that comes from smart cars her goal is to make driving safer to make Transportation more environmentally friendly and ultimately to make cities smarter and more accessible now she can definitely flex okay she's been recognized as a finalist for the New South Wales young woman of the year in 2022 and in the same year because you know why not get two big Awards she was also honored with the women's in digital innovator of the Year award can I please have a huge round of applause for Emily.

Emily Bobis: Jesus okay this is quite a lot of people uh well hi everybody my name is Emily bobis and I'm one of the founders of compass iot what is compass so Compass is a multi-award-winning road intelligence company what we do is we take vehicle data and we use that data to help transport professionals build better safer cities now uh what does that mean because that's quite a lot of jargon um all of you have a smartphone right so most of the cars these days are basically like giant smartphones on Wheels this helps uh transfer data from that vehicle back to the manufacturer via the Internet kind of like your phone does now I also really want to stress here that while that sounds all really techy and really data heavy I didn't study any of those things in in high school or at University at University I studied political Theory psychology and languages and my best subjects in year 11 and 12 were Music 2 and visual arts but one of the questions I get asked a lot is how did you know that you wanted to be a Founder how did you start Compass because that sounds like a really complicated idea right like all this data from cars and stuff like that to and I actually wanted to ask you guys are there any of you that actually like to run a business someday or thought about it yeah keep your hand up if you think you have the skills right now to do that oh I saw like half of those hands go down guys so to be honest I never intended to to run a company or be a founder and I think part of that is because like I said I didn't study any of those things and I thought the people that ran businesses with these super talented you know like amazing people loved public speaking loved people super extroverted and that doesn't really resonate with me I kind of like spending my time at home on the weekends not not really my vibe so then how did we start so this is actually a picture of me and my co-founder Angus we met in 2015 because I was trying to avoid writing an essay at University worth 40 of my final grade and so I did want any reasonable person would do I panicked and I applied for a scholarship program so there was four spots on this scholarship program and if you got to go on the scholarship program it didn't have to do the essay and I was like great I don't care about this scholarship program I just care about not writing this essay on that trip is is where we met so we stayed friends we actually started another company together called airbike which is a bike sharing company again I didn't study uh marketing or app design which is what I ended up doing at Compass or at airbike I should say and I also couldn't ride a bike at the time of this photo so what's been going on since then so we've started compass in 2018 this is my team at an event that we call track day so we hire out a race track Think Like Eastern Creek a bunch of super cool cars like Teslas and stuff like that we invite the government and then we run experiments around Road Safety so we've grown our team from three people to 16 people we have contracts with almost every single state government we've grown 400 percent year on year we have no investment from anyone outside of the company and we are a profitable business which is pretty cool and we've also won a number of awards so the one on the end there is actually me and Angie at the New South Wales young woman of the Year Awards who who won which is super amazing but I'd also like to note here that a lot of these awards were self-nominated and the reason I wanted to highlight that is because I think people particularly women will not nominate themselves because they think that if they win it's somehow a lesser achievement because they've kind of put themselves out there so I'd like you to kind of take the opportunity to uh note that if you think there's an opportunity that you nominate yourself uh but we've also seen some really cool traction I'm not gonna go too much into that but we have some crashes on some roads have done some really cool stuff but one of my proudest moments was actually buying the merch that I'm currently wearing I dumped it all out in the floor of my house and rolled around in it for quite a long time but I actually wanted to focus on the hard stuff because I think that when we talk about entrepreneurship we talk about the cool shiny things like the awesome merch and like all of the awards and all of the events and stuff that you get to go to but I think there's actually two things that I really want to highlight the first one is that Innovation does not equal acceptance because often if you are innovating you're asking people to change things that have been really really long-standing status quoes and so you even if your idea has value and is good you're probably going to run up against people who think that it's not a great idea purely because it makes them have to change something and the second lesson is something that I think gets pushed under the rug quite often and that no one wants to talk about and that is that entrepreneurship can be really really hard and I think we need to be honest about that because starting a company or being an entrepreneur or Banning a startup can be uncomfortable it can be terrifying and it can be really really lonely and really really hard work the people that you often think will support you like your friends and your family will often say oh my God you've ruined your career prospects like my parents did when I was 20 and I started this business and I think if if this is the case and I'm saying oh my God this is terrifying why should you do it and I think because these are all symptoms of also being outside of your comfort zone so while running a startup is all of these things it's also quite literally changed the trajectory of my life I'm doing things and I'm achieving things that I didn't think I would actually have the capacity to do and it's taught me the value of myself and what I bring to say a job or an opportunity in ways that I I don't think any other regular job would have so at the beginning I'd asked a bunch of you how many thought that you'd be able to run a business or a startup or be an entrepreneur the only real skills that you need to run a business or be an entrepreneur is uh Grit being okay with making heaps of really dumb mistakes pivoting so like we started out with cows and moved to cars and also the humility to always be learning new things and if there's something you don't know then asking someone for help but you've guys all been really really great so really big round of applause for you guys as well and also the other students that present it they're really really hard to follow 

Dr Naomi Koh Belic: Thank you Emily I have a couple of questions for you that was so incredible we have a round of applause for Emily yeah there we go um I actually really need that advice that you said because I I have never nominated myself for anything you should and I was sitting here and I was like oh my gosh I don't think I'd clock that I could just you could just enjoy yourself yeah you can't I'm going to I'm I'm so excited for that the main question I really have is you know you talked about how challenging it can be to shift views like when you're pushing things outside of the norm and trying to create that societal change and that's so important and valuable how do you care for yourself during that process?

Emily Bobis: Sure so the question I get asked a lot is like about work-life balance and all that kind of stuff completely honest it is not balanced I very much intentionally have spent a lot of my time and I still do on Compass because it allows me to do opportunities and do cool stuff that I don't think I would be able to do elsewhere or that if I wait five ten years the not opportunity is not going to be there yeah that being said I don't neglect my personal well-being I do other things you know I hang out with my friends and like just chill and watch like black mirror and stuff on the weekend I'm also a Taekwondo instructor so I've done like 13 years of Taekwondo and I have my third down black belt so you can do other cool stuff like you don't have to neglect all of it but like there is a lot of focus that does go into startups that is so cool so I'm still in awe that is incredible and super exciting videos in the audience have a black belt yeah there's a couple a few we've got a few nice so cool um are there any questions for Emily you don't know how to stick their hand up and Aaron can run to you yeah up at the back there Aaron I can see your hand there did I see your hand is the hand down. 

Highschool student: Do you have any tips for work-life balance like you thought you told us that um you focused a lot on your work but how did that affect you in your everyday life?

Emily Bobis: Yes it so it totally does affect me um you I only have limited number of hours a day and I choose to disproportionately spend them on Compass and part of that is because we've built like such an amazing team like if I had to kind of go to work and it was just a regular office job I don't think I would invest as much time but because I know that I'm I'm working for my team that's I think what helps because my team is also like my family. I know that's cliche but we're all really really good friends and I'm also of the opinion that Founders serve their teams teams don't serve their Founders it's not that's I think often what what people portray they're like oh well I have this team and they all work for me it's like no it's actually the other way around I hire really really amazing people so like why wouldn't I want to spend more time with them.

Dr Naomi Koh Belic: Yeah that's wonderful thank you so much for sharing that I feel like a really big thing for me in navigating things is having a psychologist because like I don't know when I'm pushing myself too far and every time she's like a girl what is this and I'm like oh okay I guess I guess you're right you're on to something I think we have time for one last question if anybody else wants to ask.

Highschool student: Did you get like a lot of rejections when you were like building up like the company?

Emily Bobis: Oh a hundred percent like a lot of the people that we now sell to when we initially came with the idea that are like no no like there's no you're not you're lying like what you're actually saying you can do doesn't exist and so because it was such a new category as well like Road intelligence is this whole new thing that's only come about in the last five years we had to spend a lot of time um and I think that involves a lot of empathy as well chatting to the people that we want to help and really putting them at the center so not being like we have this great idea you have to buy it we're like you have a problem how can we help you solve that and what can we do as like a guide to help you through that so yeah there's people who now give us a lot of money initially we're very very hesitant to do so yeah 

Dr Naomi Koh Belic: That's incredible a massive Round of Applause please for Emily thank you

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Dr Naomi Koh Belic: So we know and we've seen throughout this entire day that technology has made it significantly easier to start a business or become self-employed. And every single speaker we've heard from has really touched on that and how tech has enabled them to reach further. So we have a special tech whiz as our final speaker, James Dale, the founder of Friday Technologies. James really specializes in iOS app development with his app development studio, Friday Technologies. James has been at the forefront of creating innovative mobile applications. James has a very impressive track record, having co-founded the successful USB startup, 'Have a Great Summer', backed by Google and Box Group. He's also the recipient of multiple awards, including things like the Apple WWDC scholarship, and he's developed notable apps like Clean Sky and Ruler. Can I please have a massive round of applause for our last speaker, James?

James Dale: When I started playing with Xcode, I never would have imagined I'd have a charting app on the US App Store. My name is James Dale, and I'm an app developer. But when I say the word 'developer', what first comes to mind? Is it the Hollywood stereotype of someone in their mid-40s living in their parents' basement, typing away, trying to write all these lines of code and building these weird, cool, crazy things? What if I told you that it was not like this at all? In fact, everyone in this room could be an app developer. The one thing about all of us that's the same is that we're all different. And these unique experiences will allow us to create some of the best apps that are possible. When we're building products for people like ourselves who carry the same passions and care about technology in the same way that we do. But coding opens so many more doors than that. And a great app developer isn't just somebody who knows how to code. It's somebody who understands why they're coding and who they're coding for. And a lot of the skills that are learned through our coding and app development, such as critical thinking and human-centric design, are skills that can be used in any occupation and in any industry. But when I started to learn to code, there weren't as many tools available. I had to search far and wide to try and find ways to build the next best feature and to educate myself about new technologies that were available. So I went to YouTube. I watched video after video. I watched videos at home, I watched them on the bus, and I even watched them in class sometimes. And I also opened up Xcode and tried to build my first app. It was a great time. I had a lot of fun, and I was trying to build all the coolest bits of technology and features that I could to chuck into all the very first apps that I was building. And I shared this excitement with my friends and my family. They were there for the highs and they were there for the lows, for the features and the bugs. I shared thousands of prototypes with them, designs, iterations, and got their feedback, both good and bad. What they loved and what they didn't like so much. It was really, really good fun, and it was a great way to stay motivated. For me to share my passion for technology with friends and family. And when I started doing this, one of the most monumental pieces of my journey was the Swift student challenge. So for the Swift student challenge, I built an app, and I was fortunate enough to fly over to the United States to a city called Cupertino, which is Apple's headquarters. And it's here where I saw some of the coolest technology, but I also met some of the coolest people. And I realized for the first time that I wasn't alone in this galaxy, and that there are tons of students who are really interested in development and app development, building apps, and bringing their ideas to life. In fact, one of the first startups I started, Retail, was with some of the furry friends that I met through the Swift student challenge. It was an app that allowed anybody to send a greeting card anywhere in the world for a couple of dollars, taking a photo from their iPhone and sending it to friends and family anywhere in the world. But of course, this wasn't without failure, and that's okay. Failure is there to be embraced. In fact, it's one of the things that kept me going and kept me staying inspired. There were tons of apps that I designed, built, and crafted that perhaps didn't fit the original vision that I had when I thought about the project. I tried to bring the idea to life, and I realized that maybe this wasn't the best fit. So I kept on building and kept on staying motivated. Now, fast forward to 2020, I was building all these apps, combining my outside passions and technology, and trying to bring that into my coding world to try and build as many cool apps as I could. And with some friends, during the COVID-19 lockdowns, we saw a problem. Students couldn't connect in the same way that they could at the end of the year with their yearbooks. They weren't able to share the moments and the memories, the excitement, and all the moments throughout the year that they had together that they typically could with a physical yearbook. So we built HAGS or 'Have a Great Summer'. The app enabled students to sign a virtual yearbook and share it with their friends to share all those moments and memories they made throughout their high school journey. And when we built the product, we never would have expected the insane amount of attention and users and love for the product that we'd built. The response was outrageous. We had tons of students all over the world super interested in our products and wanting to use it day in and day out and be ambassadors to share our product with their friends and all their peers at their school. It was a really, really fun time. So, of course, we iterated and iterated, redesigned, redeveloped, and we built HAGS into something more. We turned it into a product which enabled students to connect and play fun virtual mini-games with their friends. But beyond this, the most impressive thing we did is we started an entire company from the ground up, fully remotely, and during a pandemic. But the impact we had, not just in ourselves, was amazing. The response was incredible, and we touched the lives of so many students and their communities. When I started playing with Xcode, I never would have imagined I'd have a charting app on the US App Store. Now, remember what I said, that when I started my journey, there wasn't as many programs available, and I went to YouTube to try and learn how to build my very first apps. Now, these programs, they exist in abundance. There are so many programs available, and I'd recommend everybody to try out Swift Playgrounds. It's an awesome app that allows you to go from your very first line of code to your very first app. Build an app there in real time. You write your idea, and you see your idea come to life through code. You can publish on the App Store, and it's really, really great fun. Best of all, it's free, and it's available on the iPad and macOS app stores. So with that, I encourage you, be curious. Go out there. What is that idea that you want to build? What is that idea that's conjuring up in your brain that you just go, 'I'd love to see this app. What if my phone could do this? What if I could build that?' Go and build it. Go forth and remember, the only failure is the one that you failed to learn from. Thank you.

Dr Naomi Koh Belic: Hey, thank you, thank you. That was brilliant. Something you were talking about at the beginning was the value of having diverse creators so that we create all the things that are necessary. But I feel like, you know, navigating the industry you're in is still a very traditionally pale, male, and stale industry. So do you have any practical tips for folks from diverse backgrounds to kind of break into that industry and find, I guess, carve out their own space?

James Dale: Totally. It's a great question, thanks. I mean, I think, you know, find your friends and family. They're going to share that excitement with you. Finding a way to continue that excitement and, you know, find your passions outside of technology. Combine them with technology to keep on building and to keep on creating cool products. I think, you know, as long as you stay motivated and you find your people and just get things out into the world, you'll find that there's users who want to build your product, use your product, and really want to support you and see the best out of you.

Dr Naomi Koh Belic: Yeah, who have been some of your biggest enablers?

James Dale: Definitely my friends and family. I think my parents have been really lovely as well and followed me along the journey. But also the users of my products. They've, you know, they've used the products, they're giving feedback, people have beta tested things, and sometimes there's, you know, there's bugs, and sometimes it's not always ideal. But that's part of the process, right? And really embracing that failure, taking the feedback, and figuring out what it is that I can do to build the best product possible.

Dr Naomi Koh Belic: Wonderful. Aaron, are you warmed up? Are you ready? Yeah, who has any questions that they want to ask James? Oh no, I put their own hand's up. Raise your hands up. They're excited. They're burning with questions. Tell us what your name is.

Aaron Ngan: Tell us what your name is.

Highschool student: Hi, my name is Ava. My question is, do you think that it was hard to make a business in the 21st century where there's so many businesses out there? No, because there's so many businesses out there. Do you think it was hard to come up with like original?

James Dale: You know it's interesting trying to figure out, okay, like, you know, what can I do to most impact people? And I think oftentimes, you know, one of the best things to do is to sort of look at, you know, look at my own life and look at, you know, would I use this product? Is there something in my day that I just feel like it'll be so much easier or so much better if I could, you know, do something different or do it a different way? And really use that as a source of inspiration to find the next best app idea that I think I want to bring into the world.

Aaron Ngan: Wonderful. Aaron, have you found someone else who wants to ask James a question?

Highschool student: Hi everyone, my name is... I want to give a big shout out to everyone I know and a bigger shout out to Dylan Jake Jenkins over there. My question for James is, I tried to make my own, like, a dropshipping business, and I spent 500 on advertising, and I got no profit. So I lost 500. So would you give me any advice on how to start another business and get back into it?

James Dale: Sure. I think one of the most important things there is, you know, it looks like you've learned from the experience and you realize, okay, you know, I could throw money at ads, but perhaps it's not going to be the best way to get my business out there. And so I think, you know, really looking at, okay, what is it that I'm building? You know, I remember when I was starting my first few businesses as well, it was interesting, you know, to try and think of ways to organically market and get your product out there and find ways to connect with the people that are the audience of your project. So I recommend, you know, if you're trying to build something, get it out there, ask around, see what those initial thoughts are from friends and family. It's amazing and really incredible what a fresh set of eyes can do when they look at an idea and they go, 'Hey, is this how this is supposed to be?' And you go, 'Actually, that's not what I intended, it's not what I thought.' But taking that feedback on and going, 'Alright, I'm going to try and tweak my product or tweak my marketing strategy around that feedback,' is super important. Thanks for the question.

Dr Naomi Koh Belic: That was wonderful. I think that's going to be... we're going to wrap it up. We have a huge round of applause for James. Thank you.

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