The state’s latest crop of young leaders was awarded last week at the Adelaide Oval and they were treated to inspiring words from the 2023 Australian of the Year Taryn Brumfitt.
The South Australian, famous for spreading her positive body image message across the world, told of the entrepreneurial work it took to finally go ‘viral’.
Taryn told the packed room of 375 leaders, including Premier Peter Malinauskas, that to get an enterprise up and running “sometimes you have to knock really hard on doors” and just keep going.
“We turn away sometimes just a little bit too soon. We’ve got to persist,” she said. “One of my life’s mottos is ‘polite persistence wears down resistance’. We’ve just got to keep going.”
But Taryn tempered this advice with a call to change how business has traditionally been done by working until “nothing is left in the tank”.
“I know the hustle and the push and the grind and the harder and the faster. I know that really well and it’s taken me a decade to get to this point where people are finally listening and I’m having to knock a little less loud,” she said.
“But now there is the opportunity to take that fierceness that we apply so naturally in business, because that’s the way that business has always been done, and maybe get a little bit curious about the ease, and the flow, and the grace, and applying some of that.
“When I look at mental health in this country, I sometimes wonder whether we’ve held up the grind, the push, the hustle, as what it looks like to be successful. I actually think it’s a balance of both.”
Read on to see how each of the newest members of the 40 Under 40 has achieved their success… with a lot of grind and much grace.
Alexandra Thomas
Director, Principal & Founder of #plantaseedforsafety
Alex is a diehard advocate for the health, safety and wellbeing of those in rural communities.
Her company is a rural social-change initiative that delivers “fun, meaningful, community-led activities that put health, safety and wellbeing front of mind, and bring people home to their loved ones,” she says.
Favourite pastime that isn’t related to your work?
At the risk of sounding generic – music, music and music. I’m a violinist, vocalist and struggling guitarist, and I think music is one of the greatest expressions of the soul.
Originally published online on InDaily on 9/2/23. To view the full article, please click here.
