Episode Details

Out guest this week is Sara Chamberlain, who along with her sister Amy created Australia's premier property styling company, The Real Estate Stylist, in under 4 years. The business has grown from effectively a one sofa enterprise to now employing 15 staff with a multi million dollar turnover and a list of discerning property owners and A-listers including Rebecca Judd, Zoe Foster Blake and the Australia's elite. Launching yet another two businesses under this umbrella since 2013 the group now includes The Artwork Stylist and The Apartment Stylist.

The Real Estate Stylist is considered the property styling experts in Australia regularly called upon for collaborations and comment with Real Estate.com, Domain, and The Collective.

A serial entrepreneur, Sara has being in business for 15 years, launching her first internationally stocked homewares range at just 21. Sara has bought and sold businesses, worked on the world's largest advertising accounts in London, (including Coke-a-Cola, Cadbury and Pizza Hut) doubled the turnover of a retail store in under 18 months, launched a business coaching seminar series, published a small business strategy guide and trained as an executive coach.

Full details at www.chiefmaker.com.au/74

We cover:

• How the stories we tell us reflect the life we live
• How she built resilience through brutally tough health issues as a child
• The importance of knowing your business and not making your hobby your business
• Knowing your customer and ensuring it is a human to human experience
• Being curious and not knowing it all
• Being a thoroughbred and unemployable
• How she grew her business by knowing the numbers and strategy

Key Quotes and Points by Sara

We are always in our own mind, and what we tell ourselves is what we believe, and what we believe is what we manifest

My entire mindset was driven by my mother's resounding, compelling belief that her daughter was absolutely fine, and I'll pick her up and I'll take her back to Wagga, and she will be 100% normal and she will miss all of year three at primary school, and she'll just pick up and walk into year four again. That's exactly what happened.

I've never ever really wanted to follow the doctor's orders anyway. I'm a complete rebel by definition. Doctor's would say come and see us again in 12 months, and I would just delete their number.

Look, I just don't like playing by the rules. I think you really have to be able to listen to your body, listen to your intuition, listen to your instinct, and then go and show them what you're made of. Do whatever you want to do.

Look, I've always felt like I was in a rush to run the world. That's been like a fire within me for a very long time.

I always set it up with the intention of not needing me to run it, that an investor couple could've just come in and sweep it up no matter what the writing on the wall was around the financial economy.

It's not in my makeup, and you can't do that. I mean I think that comes back to that inner child rebel in me that was like if you told me that I couldn't do something, or I wasn't capable of doing something, then it was like a double dare

I am pretty adamant about the fact that I'm a business person first and a stylist at the moment, second.

"Don't go outside of your area of expertise, and don't make your business your hobby." Sorry, "Don't make your hobby your business." Apologies.

"It would be remiss of us to encourage you in any way, shape or form, to consider a career change or an opportunity if w