I couldn’t care less about money. You probably weren’t expecting that opening line, but in all honesty, it’s the truth… I couldn’t care less about money for money’s sake. I do, however, care about money for a host of other reasons. I don’t want or need big, fancy things nor have I ever craved a super-duper, overflowing bank account. BUT, and it’s a very big ‘but’, I have discovered that money buys you freedom, choice and, more often than not, a platform to make a difference in the world. For me personally, money is a means to fill my life with positive experiences – and to extend that positivity to people I love and the inspiring community growing around myself and The Collective.

      So, with that in mind, I’m here to say it’s okay to allow money to be a driving force in your life. And, that I now LOVE the potential power of money in all of our lives. Oh my goodness I do! Did I really just say that? Yes, I did. I love money, not because I dream of having a driveway full of fast cars and a closet full of designer outfits (I am ‘stuffocating’ at the very thought of it) but because the moment I stopped seeing money as the root of all evil and saw it as a fuel of fulfilment, everything changed for me – and I believe it can for you too. With it, you and I have the means to make a massive, life-altering, kick-arse difference in the world and that is one thing I won’t budge on. I want to live a life of worth and of significance and I have discovered that money is a key ingredient in having the opportunities, choice and means to achieve that dream.

      This is why I’m now an unapologetic oversharer when it comes to money and why, over the next few chapters, I will talk with raw honesty about my journey. I’ll talk figures: like my plan to have revenue of AU$50 million in the next two years. I’ll talk mistakes: we once printed the wrong date in a book that cost us AU$10,000 and a staff member and I had to sort it out over Christmas while I had the worst food poisoning of my life. I’ll talk about learned strategies: finding money in places it apparently doesn’t exist (loans, crowdfunding and venture capital are not routes I have taken, but I have found money in unlikely places through partnerships and sponsorship). And, more importantly, I’ll talk about how our money mindsets and attitudes can affect our chances of succeeding.

      I actually failed accounting (dismally) during my first attempt at university. I had to ‘break up’ with my accountant for four months when I launched The Collective and have, without a doubt, made my share of monetary mistakes, although none were fatal. I certainly wasn’t a ‘numbers girl’ in the beginning, nor do I spruik that as my best asset today. But, what I have been able to do is keep my business, run across multiple industries, in the black – through the rocky seasons and on the tough financial days. Fourteen years from its start, my latest and most successful business venture – Collective Hub – includes a print magazine sold in more than 37 countries and over 3500 newsagents in Australia alone. I employ a staff of roughly 20 and a team of over 70 freelance creatives, and my personal favourite – I have holidayed on Necker Island with Sir Richard Branson. Collective Hub has led to brand extensions, including products, books, paid speaking events and consultancy meetings. I have achieved my business “success” (because I am certainly not there yet) with absolutely no outside investment or equity partners, other than some broad-minded thinking that led to sponsorship and advertising deals, and at the time of writing, every cent channelled into this business has been my own.

      I’m guessing you picked up this book because you want more money in your life, you’d like to overcome your business cashflow woes, you want to attract funding to your idea or perhaps you’d like to look at money from a different angle. I am so glad you did, because it means you aren’t planning on being a “gunna”. At every event or every speaking gig I attend, I always meet at least one person who falls into a category that I call the “gunnas”. These are the people who have huge dreams, wonderful visions, extraordinary potential and genuinely with all their hearts want to follow in the footsteps of entrepreneurs they admire. However, they are full of excuses about why it’s not within their reach: “I’m unsure where to start”, “I wish I was confident like you” or this one, “But it’s okay for you, you probably come from a wealthy background.” I always laugh when people say that because 14 years ago, when I began my first start-up, even the term ‘shoestring’ was exaggerating my resources. My finances were more comparable to dental floss. I could have been a “gunna” quite easily, making every justification not to follow my purpose because I didn’t (at that point) have the means available at all. Instead, I decided to look at money differently, bring some fresh ideas to the table and try new things