How I Made It
Episodes
What working on David Bowie’s yacht taught Boost founder Janine Allis
23 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Growing up, Janine Allis never thought about starting her own business. “I didn’t even know what an entrepreneur was,” she says. But...
‘It's the Mount Everest of careers’: How Fleet’s CEO built an $800m company
16 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Since she was a little girl, Flavia Tata Nardini was obsessed with space. The Italian-born rocket scientist began her career at the European Space Age...
A scam set WA’s fertiliser king on a path to a $5b fortune
09 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Vikas Rambal came to Australia from India on a prospective business trip in 2000. But the project he was looking into was not what it seemed. It was a...
How a former IBM executive redefined Australia’s restaurant scene
02 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Chris Lucas grew up in the world of hospitality, often spending time in his dad’s pub in Geelong. But it wasn’t until his mid-30s that one...
He could’ve been Qantas CEO. Instead Bruce Buchanan started a $7.2b company
26 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Leading Australia’s largest airline is by all accounts a dream job. But in 2012, Bruce Buchanan – who was on track to become chief e...
Trinny Woodall, What Not To Wear and a multimillion-dollar company
19 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Trinny Woodall first became a household name as one half of the dynamic duo, Trinny and Susannah. Together the pair built a career issuing fashion adv...
How the (banker) founder of MJ Bale took over menswear
12 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Growing up on a sheep farm, Matt Jensen has long had an appreciation for natural fibres. But it was during a stint in London working as a banker that ...
How Bruce Keebaugh turned $500 into a global events company
05 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When the co-founder and former chief executive of The Big Group was 21, he had just $500 in his pocket. Not afraid of risk, Bruce Keebaugh and his wif...
‘The napkin came across the table’: How software giant Xero was born
28 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From the start of high school, Rod Drury was captivated by computing. It was a fascination that would go on to create one of the largest ASX-lis...
The founder of O&M had one big idea. It became a global haircare empire
21 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jose Bryce Smith came to Australia on holiday. Seven years later, she founded what would become one of the country’s biggest haircare brands. Wi...
Trailer: 'How I Made It' Returns September 22
18 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How I Made It is back with new hosts Lauren Sams & Yolanda Redrup. Join us to learn how Australia’s top entrepreneurs built their fortunes a...
Sam Kroonenburg’s success is only possible because of his wife
04 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Kroonenburg built a company from his bedroom, with him and his brother Ryan both making about $500 million. But Sam, 40, is doing what he can to a...
How exquisite timing helped Kerry Harmanis forge a fortune
14 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
After deciding working at Legal Aid wasn’t the career for him, Kerry Harmanis applied to an art school. He was rejected and turned to prospecting in...
Paul Blackburne: Why cars, boats and houses won’t make you happy
30 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Paul Blackburne built a property company that in 2016 land him on the Financial Review Rich List with an estimated $536 million fortune. He’s also s...
Why Richard White avoids risk at all costs
16 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Richard White wanted to be a rock and roll star. He ended up developing software for companies in the logistics industry. In 1994 he founded Wise Tech...
Steph Claire Smith’s top tips to building a social media empire
02 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How a back of the napkin plan put fitness star Steph Claire Smith on the Young Rich List. To ask a question, email [email protected] This podcast i...
Mark Woodland: From Maccas to building a $100m company with zero qualifications
19 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mark Woodland was expanding his education start-up before realising he’d overlooked a critical component for its success. He had to fix it, even if ...
Nick Bell's first business flopped, his next made him millions
05 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Serial entrepreneur Nick Bell sits down with Julie-anne Sprague to chat about his latest business venture, which aims to help people live longer. He a...
Shaun Bonétt: The homeschooled billionaire who built a fortune before turning 40
21 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's episode, Precision Group founder Shaun Bonétt chats to Julie-anne Sprague about becoming one of the country's most successful entrepre...
Coming soon: How I Made It season 4
07 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How I Made It is back for a 4th season and this time we're giving you can chance to ask a Rich Lister a question yourself. Are you building a compan...
Summer Series: From golf balls to 1c TVs - how Ruslan Kogan built a $300m empire from $0
11 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
His parents moved to Australia with just $90 to their name, raising their young family in a housing commission flat in Melbourne. It was there Ruslan ...
Summer Series: How Simon Beard went from 'toolie' to Culture King worth $600m
28 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The How I Made it team is on a summer break but have curated a special summer series featuring some of our favourite episodes. In this third episode...
Summer Series: How Tammy Hembrow built a fitness empire from $400
14 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The How I Made it team is on a summer break but we’ve curated a special summer series featuring some of our favourite episodes. Our second episode...
Summer Series: How Jack Cowin brought KFC and Hungry Jacks to Australia
31 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Happy New Year! The How I Made it team is on summer break but for your listening enjoyment they have compiled a collection of some of their favourite ...
How Sam Kennard built a $2.6b empire storing other people's stuff
17 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Kennard always had ambition to work and grow the family company. But he never expected his dad to give him total control when he was just 24 years...
The sliding doors moment that led typist Cathie Reid to build a $550m fortune
03 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's episode How I Made It podcast, Icon Group founder Cathie Reid chats to Julie-anne Sprague about wanting to be a typist. Instead she bec...
How online gamer Kevin Gosschalk made $173m stopping internet bad guys
19 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week on How I Made It, Julie-anne Sprague chats to Young Rich Lister Kevin Gosschalk, the co-founder Arkose Labs on the challenges of going head ...
How Mark Carnegie 'thumb-sucked' his way off the Rich List
05 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's episode, Julie-anne Sprague chats to investor and corporate adviser Mark Carnegie on how being born with a silver spoon and having a ch...
How school dropout Nigel Satterley built a $500 million property empire
22 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Nigel Satterley joins Julie-anne Sprague to chat about his journey from Levi's salesman to becoming Australia’s biggest private land deve...
Introducing: 15 Minutes with the Boss (episode preview)
18 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Follow The Australian Financial Review’s newest podcast offering called 15 Minutes with the Boss. It’s a weekly podcast, in which AFR’s Boss Edi...
Sam Hupert: From wine tasting meeting to a $9 billion medical software giant
08 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In 1983, Sam Hupert and IT specialist Anthony Hall joined forces after meeting at a wine tasting. Their brainchild, Pro Medicus is now worth $9 billio...
How Kim Kardashian is helping Gen Z-er Alex Tomic make $1 billion
24 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Alex Tomic quit university after just six months, to create a company to sell teeth whitening kits with his childhood friend Alex Mirkovic. Almost a d...
How Carolyn Creswell went from check-out chick to $170m muesli empire
10 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Carolyn Creswell’s company Carmen's dominates the supermarket shelves. But it didn’t start that way. In the early days, she had to come up clever ...
Coming soon: How I Made It season three
03 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
How I Made It is back for a third season. From the Australian Financial Review, How I Made It takes you inside the world of the country’s top entrep...
Female Founders: Trenna Probert: From concierge to fintech start-up founder
25 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Super Fierce founder Trenna Probert chats to Julie-anne Sprague about her bold mission to close the wealth gap between men and women. This podcast is ...
Female Founders: Hannah Drury: From blow-up mattress to a fragrance empire
11 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
From an initial $50,000 investment and regularly sleeping on a blowup mattress on the factory floor, Hannah Drury is now looking to expand her fragran...
Female Founders: Gab Manning and Manning Cartell
28 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Gabrielle Manning chats with Julie-anne Sprague about quitting her job in her 30s to set up her own business alongside her two sisters. But a decade l...
Female Founders: Ava Matthews, Bec Jefferd and Ultra Violette
14 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In 2014 Bec Jefferd and Ava Matthews met in a carpark. Fast forward to today, their skinscreen line Ultra Violette has completely changed the way we v...
Female Founders: Priscilla Hajiantoni and Bangn Body
30 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Priscilla Hajiantoni suffered from skin breakouts. She’d tried everything and nothing seemed to work. So she set out to make her own. Priscilla now ...
Female Founders: Jo Horgan and Mecca
16 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This week, entrepreneur Jo Horgan invites Julie-anne Sprague into the nerve centre of Mecca to reveal how her love for English literature led to her f...
Female Founders: Tania Austin and Decjuba
02 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In 2008, Tania Austin took a risk buying five retail stores under the Decjuba banner. 15 years on Decjuba is now a women's fashion powerhouse with mor...
Female Founders: Kristy Chong and Modibodi
19 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Kristy Chong revolutionised personal care products for women all over the world by creating an underwear range that absorbs leaks. The company she fou...
Coming soon: Female Founders
05 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Starting March 20, you’ll hear stories from women who’ve faced down enormous challenges to take a simple idea and build a business. Some would go ...
Introducing: The Fin
19 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
A weekly podcast from The Australian Financial Review that examines the biggest stories in business, markets and politics, and why they matter, explai...
Introducing Chanticleer
16 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Australia’s most prestigious business column is now a podcast. Chanticleer is a weekly news breakdown of all things business, finance and markets. E...
How selling TVs for 1c led Ruslan Kogan to owning an online empire
04 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
His parents moved to Australia with just $90 to their name, raising their young family in a housing commission flat in Melbourne. It was there Ruslan ...
Aaron Hornlimann quit uni after 12wks, now he's worth $42m
28 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Aaron Hornlimann bred guinea pigs to earn a buck as a kid. By his early 20s he was developing a text messaging system for Jetstar and now, at 35, the ...
How Gold Coast 'toolie' Simon Beard made $600m
21 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Simon Beard and his wife Tah-nee started Culture Kings as a market stall at the Carrara Markets on the Gold Coast. Last year they cut a deal to sell t...
How Robbie Ferguson became the youngest Rich Lister
14 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
At 25, Robbie Ferguson is the youngest person to make the list since it began in 1983. He and his brother James have a combined wealth of $1billion th...
Sarina Russo's success may lie in how many times she's been fired
07 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Sarina Russo failed high school English classes and was fired from her job as a legal secretary. She’s proof that determination and perseverance can...
How Tammy Hembrow built a fitness empire from just $400
31 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
After dropping out of uni and with starting out with $400, Tammy Hembrow has built online fitness app Tammy Fit and clothing brand Saksi Collection in...
Why quitting his job at a bank was the best thing David Tudehope did
24 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
David Tudehope quit working for CBA at 25 to start a company with big ambitions. Macquarie Telecom would take on Telstra. It’s been so successful he...
$78 'rort' that's turned Blackmagic's Grant Petty into a billionaire
17 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
When Grant Petty was growing up in Shepparton in Victoria’s Goulburn Valley, his family didn't have much money so he took to 'rorting' the system to...
Coming soon: How I Made It season two
10 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Australian Financial Review's Julie-anne Sprague takes you inside the world of the country’s top entrepreneurs. They'll share insights on what makes...
Episode 8. Michael and Matt Heine
27 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Heine, 72 and his son Matt, 42, together run Netwealth, one of Australia’s fastest growing wealth management businesses. They come from ...
Episode 7. Jessica Sepel
20 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jessica Sepel, 32, went from working at Priceline after school to creating one of their fastest growing brands JS Health Vitamins. She’s a nutri...
Episode 6. Wes Maas
13 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Wes Maas, 41, was doing “okay” playing in the NRL for the South Sydney Rabbitohs but knew he was never going to be in the top 20 per cent....
Episode 5. Graham Turner
06 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Graham Turner, 72, grew up on an apple farm in Queensland and attended a one-teacher primary school where he had to make up numbers on the netball tea...
Episode 4. What does it take to make the Rich List?
30 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Australian Financial Review started tracking Australia’s 200 richest people in 1983. Back then, they were worth a combined $4.7 billion. Fas...
Episode 3. Tony Walls
23 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Tony Walls, 57, is a Wollongong boy who went straight to work from Port Kembla High School, attended university at night and spent all his spare time ...
Episode 2. Jane Lu
16 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jane Lu, 35, started fashion retailer Showpo in 2010 after scoring her dream job at a big consulting firm and realising she would "never be a good acc...
Episode 1. Jack Cowin
09 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Jack Cowin, 79, is the fast food billionaire who brought KFC and Hungry Jacks to Australia and then turned $400,000 into more than $2.6 billion by inv...
Coming Soon: How I Made It
21 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Stories of building wealth from the ground up and business advice from members of the Australian Financial Review Rich List. How I Made It premieres O...