You can listen to Margaret’s Tilly Money podcast here.
- Did you have a business mentor or someone that inspired your career path journey?
My father was very influential in creating a strong work ethic within me and he was definitely responsible for my entrepreneurial spirit. Several years after I started the business I spoke at an event alongside Noel Whittaker, a well-known and highly respected financial commentator, and we hit it off. We went on to become great friends, in fact I feel like I am almost a member of his family, and he has had a strong influence on me. It has been an informal, osmosis kind of mentoring, with enormous personal benefits, being so close to a family of wonderful people.
- What are some of the lessons in leadership that you’d encourage other young, aspiring businesswomen to remember and implement?
People always comment that it is a team effort and the people around you are critical. This is true, but I would go further to say that if you support and encourage those around you, and nurture them well, they can become leaders themselves, and often provide a depth to your business, and a skill level, that you yourself may not provide. I knew very early on that I was very replaceable, and that there were plenty of people around me who may even do a better job than I could do – I just had to encourage them to believe that.
- What is your approach to money and personal finance, and do you have any money rituals or habits?
The three pillars of finance – business, investments and charity. We backed ourselves and invested in our business. No matter what we earned, we invested a percentage, before we spent money on anything else. And we ensured that we gave consistently to various causes, also teaching our children to do the same from the moment they started earning pocket money.
- What is your proudest career achievement?
Being chosen as the Telstra NSW Businesswoman of the Year from a field of highly successful and capable women.
- What money/business/life advice would you give to your 21-year-old self (if she’d listen)?
Take your weekly wage, allocate 10-20% to some form of investing (even saving) then allocate the remainder to spending. Most people do it the other way – they invest whatever is left, and there is never anything left. If you pretend that your actual wage is 10-20% less than it is, and work on living on that, then the investing will happen automatically.
