#86 Breaking Barriers with Annie Gibbins, Founder & CEO Women Biz Global

I've been thinking about sharing the power of collaboration. A month ago, I was invited by Annie Gibbins to speak at her Empowerment Women Online Summit on Sunday, 27th August. 55 speakers shared their wisdom and stories with us in a 10-minute segment, a 12-hour online summit. The experience has been so incredible that I wanted to glean  Annie Gibbins's thoughts and share her passion and mission with the world.

Annie Gibbins is a multi-award-winning author, speaker, and CEO. With a remarkable journey spanning over two decades, Annie's business, marketing, and entrepreneurship expertise is unrivalled. She founded Women's Biz Global, a powerhouse enterprise dedicated to propelling women entrepreneurs towards resounding success in the global arena.

Join us on this episode as Annie offers her insights on the power of storytelling, personal brand elevation and her dedication to propel women entrepreneurs towards resounding success in the global arena.

To connect with Annie Gibbins:
Website: https://womensbizglobal.com/
LinkedIn (Women's Biz Global)
https://www.linkedin.com/company/28775954/
LinkedIn (Annie Gibbins)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/anniegibbins/

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Transcript

Hey everyone. Welcome back to another wonderful podcast episode, and this week you will have a wonderful treat. My friend Annie Gibbins is coming into this space and sharing about her life, her journey, her wisdom with us, and is someone who has got over two decades of experience in the world of corporate, and then she runs her own entrepreneurial business at the moment, focusing on TV shows, summits, podcasts, magazines, a whole host of areas to elevate women.

In entrepreneurship. So she's got so much to offer and she's running some amazing summits as we are speaking right now. And so I want you to come on a journey with us wherever you are, whether you are on a run, you know whether you are folding your laundry at the moment you are cooking, listening to us.

Clock in and chill with us and let's welcome any. Thank you so much, Jocelyn. I am so thrilled to have a chat with you today. I so much about you, but I want to start with. Corporate career in C-Suite. So let's dive into, you know, what did you do in C-Suite, and then how did you transition out the C-Suite into running your own organization at the moment?

Well, it's, that's a huge question, but we'll see how we go. It's been a rollercoaster ride, as I'm sure it is for many of your listeners of like, you know, do we all do the normal journey? And even what is the normal journey for a woman? Right? So I had definitely the road less traveled, you know, having five children and navigating three degrees around that.

So, when I, when I finally got to C-Suite, it was, it had been a huge effort of, of, you know, getting myself qualified and respected and being able to be. Put at those sorts of positions and at the right tables. And then, so I, I originally started my C-Suite role. I, I was head teacher of a nursing school in North Sydney.

I then, I worked for the Australian Orthopedic Association and then the Austral, my first CEO role was the Australasian Society for Ultrasound in Medicine. 'cause they wanted a health educationalist, CEO a change agent. And I'm like, yeah. So I spent five years there and then that led to taking a couple of years off doing consulting.

'cause I didn't wanna just be known as a not-for-profit, CEO. And that was really enlightening. 'cause what I learned was that seriously not-for-profits. If you can do that on the smell of an oily rag and have so much impact, you were doing so well. It's, it's, it's, and you get a lot more scope to actually really invoke change as, as opposed to in the corporate, the, the other side of corporate where there's a lot of mechanics, a lot of approvals required.

It's a much. Slower pro press. And so anyway, I, I learned to love both. And then I ended up in I've been CEO of Glaucoma Australia, which was an eye health charity. I wanted to be a charity, CEO as well. So I did that. And in the mix of this, I also started a business with my husband and it's an optical business 'cause he's in optics.

So we, we actually had a. Startup that grew to seven figures over, you know, six years. And so that was an incredible experience. And during that, the joy of seeing that grow to grow something from two people to like 26, 28 staff and and now have thousands of students across Australia, New Zealand, I. I'd always, on the side of the things that I'd been doing had this little Annie Gibbons coaching kind of business.

Women used to come to me for mentoring, going, how did you do what you are doing? And I'm like, oh, okay. I just did this and this. I didn't really think about it. So then during Covid I went, you know what? I'm gonna go all in. When I finished my last CEO role, I'm going to really put Women's Biz Global, which is my business on steroids, and that's what I've been, I've been having so much fun.

Jocelyn, for the last co year and a half I'm, I must admit I'm a pig in mud. In my gorgeous world of women rising globally. Amazing. Wow. So much into that. And just the amount of experience coming from, you know, profit, nonprofit, you know, charity, medical education, coaching, you know, optical, it's like such a rich wealth of experience.

So, Now, how did you decide to transition then to choose women in business and then to move into elevating their brand and very much around publicity and you being an author as well, going into tv, going into magazines, like how did that transition happen?

Cor, I, I, I dreamt if I created my own business, I wanted to create a business that I would've always wanted, right? So I've grown up in that pioneering woman sort of mode of working while you're juggling children. But like back in the day where, you know, I was interviewed by 20 men on a board and I'm the only woman, and one of the interview questions of was, well, this is a very important role.

How will you manage? Being a mom. And I'm like, you know, so this is the era that I've navigated going, oh, I wonder if you'd ask my husband that same question. So it was really challenging. So when I then went, what business do I actually want? I wanted to create my business of something that I wanna do for the rest of my days, I.

Something that I would've loved to have received when I was 25 years old, when I had hopes and dreams and everyone I knew told me I was a bit crazy and that most of them would not happen. And particularly when I, I had four children in two years, I had two sets of twins. So when the reality of my life started unfolding it even became crazier.

So then I thought, wouldn't it be great if women had a global network? Wouldn't it be great if women supported women? Wouldn't it be great one day when we don't have to talk about gender equality and empowerment, but rather than, you know Talk about it and how we, we support it. I wanted to actually be an influencer of change.

I wanted to actually do things that shifts the dial and then in that I've, you know, I've got Women's Biz Tribe, which is a subscription membership model. I've got women's BI coaching, I've got women's bi publishing and shopping and, and media. But in the media arm, I really noticed where that was my X factor.

People came to me not just for mentor and coaching. But they actually say, Annie, you've got a personal brand and you've got a professional brand. It's Annie Gibbons Women's Biz Global. And you know what, Jocelyn, I dunno if you agree with this, but I believe a hundred percent that women do, people do business with people before companies.

Right? So then I realized they wanted to come to me because they like the personality that I then put in my, this, this global, and they wanna be that personality. So I attracted, I, I realized when I started looking at. Who likes what I'm doing in my business, there were women who wanted to be, be seen as the authority in their niche.

There were women who wanted to be seen with a digital footprint of the evidence of who they were, the impact that they had, the value that they're adding, things of that nature. Whether they're humanitarians or small business, medium business owners you know, athletes. What are politicians, it doesn't really matter, but they wanted to have that opportunity and that's one of the challenging things for women and particularly, I've even got an intern program at the moment where I'm having, getting people to have experience, getting work experience, getting opportunities to speak.

Getting opportunities to be in Global magazines now so they can be in my magazine, which has got, you know, 12 million potential readers on Press Reader there. I'm on, I've got a new cable TV show coming up, which will have like up to 350 million people on Roku Fire tv, things of that nature. And so it allows that platform.

I'm building a platform that go, you know what ladies? You can create a global brand. You might think, you know, stop thinking local, stop thinking where you are. Every business should have a revenue stream that's multiple revenue streams that are coming through e-commerce. And we can all position ourselves on a global stage that people who are they gonna call?

When your topic, your one thing where if you were asked to do a TED talk today, Jocelyn, you're like, well, what would it be? And, well if, if the main TV show had a need for that person, who are they gonna call? Well, how do we create that brand for women in business, particularly to really strengthen their positioning?

So they're the one to call. They're the ones with a book, they're the ones with a podcast like you and I. They're the ones who've been in media. And so that's my joy and the main reason I find it a joy is because I get to help them really interpret and and expose who they are and their uni unique.

Authentic self because it's way less stressful once you nail that and you're confident and comfortable in that, which is huge. But once you do, I'll tell you what, you then become unstoppable because you're not trying to be anyone else. You're not worrying about all that. What do they think of me? What if they don't like this or that?

You're not limited. You actually just rise above and go, I'm just being, I'm just doing my thing. I love it. I'm, I'm out there. Just having fun with more and more opportunities. And so that's what I love, teaching women how to have fun in their own space while, you know, trying to do the juggle and we all do the juggle and what that means and what's realistic and not setting yourself up to fail and then just girl powering and supporting each other in a global environment that you can actually, you know, achieve your dreams.

It just, you can't do it all overnight, but you can just, you can do it incrementally and you will get there. I. That we can always do it incrementally, because I think a lot of women go overnight. They need to have everything done, dusted with, I have got the perfect brand, you know, 15,000 followers and everything is done and people will come to me.

But I think that inner work comes first because we need to work through that layer by layer. And so, You will find that a lot of women come with a, a common group of concerns that they might bring along, and if you were to notice certain trends or certain group of concerns that they need to overcome, what will be the top three that you have observed?

One of the biggest problems is their fear that they're not enough. Okay. So it's a fear of inadequacy. It's, it's so, there's fears. There's fears of failure, fear of embarrassment. But at the core of it, it's a bit like, well, who am I? You know, am I in the world? You know, there's just everybody. Everyone is so amazing and there's so many people in every industry is saturated.

So I think there's that fear of, am I enough? Really, it comes down to that, and that will come down to a whole lot of root, root cause, real reasons of insecurity. You know, when you were a kid, you know, don't be too, don't be, don't be too into yourself or don't you think you're so great. Or there's, you know, you are just a small fry in the whole world of amazing people or whatever it was.

Or you've tried things and they failed. You know, and when you're at an impressionable age, you can then go, I'm never gonna put myself through that pain in, in any again, that embarrassment. I don't want to experience that. Whereas you go to the other end and successful people or go, gee, I hope I fail often.

I hope I'm always pushing myself to that level. And I actually love the buzz of, wow, man, if this doesn't have an epic fail, it's gonna be epic. You know? It's gonna be amazing. And so how do you do that? So I think one of the biggest, the biggest things that people come to me, I think the biggest fear is not believing in themselves enough.

Not knowing what they're backing. And by that I mean clarity in who you are and actually what do you wanna achieve, and then how are you gonna measure that success. Those three elements are so key. You know, you don't know what you're chasing, you're chasing a ghost if you don't have clarity around who you are, what you wanna offer, and then how are you gonna measure that?

And I had to go through those principles as well. You know, when I left, you know, a really great corporate job, and then I go, I'm gonna go and start up my own business again. Most of my friends went, are you mental? You're at a stage where you can just be sitting in the big chair. Right. Why on earth would you do that?

So you suddenly go, oh my gosh, am I crazy again? All these insecurities that I've had all through my, you know, we've all got them. Am I gonna be enough? Is this gonna be a success? What if this was a failure? What if people say, I wasted the best time of my earning life, you know, whatever. I think I'm, you know, We're all at different journeys, but we can all look back and go, we all have those triggers.

We just have them at different levels and at different times. And so I think my work and, and the work of those who are listening in, it's like, yeah, if I asked you, you know, who you are uniquely and what do you value? Do you know your top three values? Do you know what motivates you? Do you know what gets you excited?

You know, with crystal clear clarity, do you know what you actually want to achieve? What's that journey? Mine certainly didn't happen overnight. I had to navigate three degrees around these five kitties and do a subject tonight at uni for like 15 years and do all these. But eventually you just get there and you celebrate every single win, and it doesn't happen overnight.

Most successes do not happen overnight, so we need to realize that. But as long as you are leaning into your empowered future and reigning it in, you've gotta know what you're chasing. So do you know what the goal is? You know, or even actually, you know, in that ballpark, I never knew, you know, I'd be doing what I'm doing now.

But I wanted to be a successful businesswoman. I knew I wanted to create things. I wanted to have an impact. I wanted to leave a legacy. I wanted to be a speaker and on the stage. 'cause I always love communicating. So there's elements that go, yeah, I'm doing that. So I knew what I was chasing. And most importantly actually then going, now how am I gonna measure the success of that?

I. That's a really interesting topic of itself. You know, am I gonna set, measure it in financial gain? Am I gonna measure it? At the moment, it's me actually having flexibility. I'm a nana now. I love, you know, three, two to three days a week I can drop my granddaughters at skin school kindy. I can go to those days.

I can live on my laptop. Anywhere I can travel with my husband's business. That's success to me. So whether you know, flexibility was success. Freedom for me was success. Having that freedom to say, I have my own business, so therefore I have my own choices. You know, that can influence how I spend them. I love that idea.

For me, that's a motivating value. You know, freedom to choose. So I wanted to know is, you know, how do I measure that? So all of those elements mean that you can start crafting this journey and everyone will have a different recipe of that. That's what I love. I love it when you meet people. Like, you know, if we unpacked your journey and then all these other people I've got in mind, it's like, oh, they're all, what they're actually chasing is different and it's gonna be.

Underneath. And that's what I love the juicy nuggets underneath. It's the wanting to travel, wanting to help their family, wanting to be known for something, wanting to create something. PI be a pioneer. Like we're all driven differently. I think that's exciting. And when you, lets start living that, other people get excited by that and they wanna be part of it, right?

So it's like this, you create this party, you are the party, and other people wanna be part of that. And then that's when it gets really exciting and effortless. Which is most important. Yes. So many people are burning depress and so tired. Yes. And you know, the burning desire when you wake up that you wanna do something like, I could resonate so much with that conversation that you just pointed out because there's so many elements.

Like I like you left corporate as well, and the reason why I left corporate is because I want the flexibility of life. I work four days a week in my business. I get to wake up Monday, you know, later, and then, you know, do whatever I want, then start my day. And it's that. It's just that. And when you are in corporate, there is a way of working that you can't afford that you know, you be perceived differently.

And so that's a really important point I think for our listeners, is to go away and redefine what. A successful life means, and if you were to, you know, pause this podcast and write down all the answers for all the questions that Annie has given to us, you'll be blown away and, and think it from a different perspective.

That there is no boundaries and you are limitless. And what would you achieve differently for the next? Chapter of your life. So love, I love I love that word chapter too. Jocelyn. So we do have chapters, we've got seasons, right? When I had five children, you know, and you know, I, I had twins at 23, and then I had another set of twins at 25.

So I had four kids in 26 months, and then I had my fifth child. Five years later. So like, you've gotta be realistic in your season. You know, that season is going to be very different to when your kids are at high school or, or when they, you know, passing in. Now I can travel around the world, I'm living on a laptop, but it all, and it all looks amazing and it is.

But I'm 55 now. Do you know what I mean? So it's like you, you're going, you, it's choosing how to use your time and your energy and your finance, and that's exactly it. Realizing what you value, that you don't wanna go, oh, chasing this unrealistic expectation and missing this joy. So what is the joyful recipe for you now?

And then I think one of the secrets is having a re reassess. Every three to five years, it's not even a decade. People go, oh, well when I'm in twenties or thirties or forties, you go, no, no, no, no. Your, your season. It's like, you know, if you're in corporate and you're looking at your strategic plan now roles every year, instead of putting this thing that's supposed to keep you going for 10 years and then you'll revisit it.

Right? We've got to be constantly assessing and modifying because your situation can change. Like, particularly those who've got quite complex situations, you know, with, with family. With health with resources, with support, you know, we've all got, you know, it's really easy to look at someone else's life and go, oh my gosh, like, they've just got the dream and it's really hard.

But it's like, okay, well considering my situation, what am I gonna do? What's one thing I can do? Like when I did it, you know, my situation was ridiculous. How was I ever gonna do it? And I go, you know what, I can smack out some. And then when I, when I had busier times, I just went, no, mom goes to uni every Wednesday night for like, and whatever.

And that just became a thing. And, and they're like, you're never gonna get there. Well, you know what never happens one day. And then suddenly you're like, I've got a.

The, the, the big moments happen because of the sum of today's. That's what I think the comment is. You know, your future is your sum of today's. Absolutely. So what do you have today? What are you doing day in, day out, if not every day in your week, that actually is influencing that change. It's just a little shift of change, a subtle change that is then going to continue to chip away at that long-term goal.

Mm. And it's not work. You're not expecting miracles. Miracles can happen. You know, I see it every now and then. Like something amazing happens. Someone gets a grant or someone, you're at the right place at the right time or whatever. But most of the time it's because you're actually just embedding good principles.

You're spending time at it, you're doing good business and you're able to then, you know, grow. And so that's where, you know, when we're, we're kinder to ourselves. Also we allow other people to help us. We are not an island. I used to be the job. I got hurt by people not supporting me. So then I didn't want to let other people in 'cause I didn't wanna be hurt anymore.

So I went through a stage of totally guns blazing. Then getting really hurt, then going, no way, Annie, you can do it. Do it anyway. In memory of my grandmas who inspired me and then. I then actually had a few years that I really should have asked for more help looking back. And it was really, it was harder than it needed to be and that's why I love now mentoring others, going, you don't have to be by yourself actually.

You'd be surprised who's on your side. I like that a lot because I think a lot of us coming from corporate had gone through that be betrayal. I had many occasions where, you know, work with people and they betray you, and so it's a lot of energy and time and for me, what I found was to master the art of forgiveness.

And the quicker I forgive, the quicker I can move forward. And it took me almost three years to really master that tool, to know now that when someone is not moving in the right direction and things are, you know, relationship are not way it should be. It's a lot of conflicts. Then I know how to forgive and I know how to move on and to find women who will be so supportive, who actually do want to champion your success.

Yes.

Everyone is competing. In fact, competition is expected. That's how they measure performance, right? And so everyone is not supportive. Everyone is backstabbing each other. The politics is so thick and it's just really hard to navigate through that landscape. But in the world of entrepreneurship that we are in and setting up the path for those coming on board with us, it such.

All our listeners and our listeners sharing this episode with your friends as well, that there are women out there who absolutely wanna see you, hear you create that platform for your voice to be known, for you to increase your visibility. And of course, with any given, you know, company opening up so many channels, like it's in the millions.

And so this is such a wonderful way for anyone who thinks about. You might be listening at the corner some way thinking, will that be even possible? Well, this is your message today. It is so possible. And so I wanna move to the next part and to ask you around, you know, diversity, equity, inclusion, that's one part of, you know, what you are passionate about to explore.

And can you comment, you know, obviously diversity inclusion is such a big topic. Yeah. But how does your company support that theme on a global scale? Hmm. I try my very best all the time because I also, I come from a place of, I am acutely aware that I'm privileged, right? You know, being a, a white Anglo woman born in Sydney, Australia, raised on the North shore, do you know what I mean?

So it's not as if I'm instantly successful. It doesn't mean that I have a silver spoon, but I compared to the people that I meet day in, day out, 'cause I operate in a global. Space. And so, you know, I've got people from Sierra Leone, you know, Botswana, you know, Uganda, whatever. So and, and they. It's, we are not equal, you know?

And so I, for me to, as a business owner, to be able to set up a business and be truly progressive and, and embracing you know, trying to help these women shift the dial. You know, things that I've done are, for example, I, I, I mentioned I've got Women's Biz Tribe, so that's a subscription model, but anyone from Africa can actually just join it and they just put in a Code Africa on my tribe and they get free because, you know, that's $10 a week.

Like that's nothing, right. Even for us. But for. You know, that can be a breaker. And I don't wanna know. Women are prohibited. So therefore they immediately get free access to weekly webinars, you know, all these values particularly on my summit, like you are part of my summit this, this weekend.

Every three months I have a global summit online. I have 55 speakers. If you look at who's on that, that they're people from Trinidad and Tobago, you know, Singapore, New York, where, you know You probably Uganda anywhere in the world. And so I'm wanting women to be equal. We are equal in a platform. If you, if you had something to share and of value and you're actually, you know, got the evidence that you have got a business that supports and you know, I've gotta obviously align with what they're doing, then I want to give them that opportunity to speak and to grow Women who are, are part of women's bus publishing and getting themselves published.

You know, you might go, I can do a book. You might go, I'm, I'm not up to that. You can then just join an anthology. One chapter, and I've seen women. So, you know, then suddenly you're an international bestselling author, right? Because you've written one chapter. It's amazing. And it allows, so, so I, I feel like I'm creating all these stepping stones.

An exciting part that I'm, I'm just building at the moment is women's best shopping. And the reason I'm doing that, it's an online shopping platform, but it's. For women. So imagine those women overseas that I'm referring to who, you know, for me, I can just create an eLearn e-commerce platform, or I can have it on my website and sell things.

But for the women that I meet in my network, just having something, they don't have that money to pay for the domain. They don't have money to pay for that hosting. They don't have money to pay for the e-commerce side, so they can then set up a store within women's bus shopping. They have their store within my store.

I pay for all those costs. And yes, I get a little clip of anything they sell, but they basically then aren't set up to fail. You can be anywhere in the world and be selling your beads, your jewelry, your essential oils, your whatever, and then I. Use that bigger platform so that I'm trying to find ways in my business and I can actually go, you know what?

I've got you girl. Like I, I can see your pain points. What are your pain points from, from you progressing in business? So for me, you know, yeah, I had four children in two years. That was a pretty, that was a beautiful pain point, but challenging from a career. So how could I have been helped more? And that's, You know, and so people have got lack of support, single moms people in domestic violence issues.

You know, I wanna make sure that if they come into my world, I can then go, right. Well, considering where you're at, How can I try and adjust the situation to try and help you? Because basically I just want that person to succeed, you know? And everyone has that potential to succeed. But not everybody has an equal playing field.

In fact, most people don't have an even playing field. Every woman in the world doesn't have an equal playing playing field. So rather than whinge about it and become angry and like, you know, some people are like, that's just not good enough. And I'm like, yeah, I agree. What are we actually going to do? So I'm one of these people who go, you know, well what can I do?

You know, and I'm in a position now that I can continue to grow the offerings of women's this global. So it is truly representative of diversity and equality. I can have, hopefully in the next year or two have a, a full philanthropic scholarship arm which is already operating. But it can really go on steroids because the more successful my business becomes, the more I get to offer other people.

So I see that as a real joy to me because I. I wanna leave a real legacy of, of, you know, the impact that one person can have. And you don't have to change the world, but you certainly, you know, it's kind of nice to go, yeah, my footprint. And I like that, that my family can, you know, my, particularly my, my five adult children now, they go, yeah, mom's not just doing a business to make a lot of money.

She's doing that so she can, you know, obviously run a good business, but she can also be there for us. She's available. She, you know, and, and also she's going, she's doing something that is of value and particularly to my daughters, you know, that, that. Supports this next generation coming through. I love that.

I love that we need more and more women to step up. You know, one of the things that makes me angry is that when you go to conferences and you see the photos, and they're all men, and there might be one or two female. Yeah. It's like, what's this women 2023. What the mean? And then there's still so many of those conference banners and I'm like, that's one thing I wanna change that even if we have 30% more, you know, like not 50 50, but more rather than, you know, just such a small pool of women.

And, sorry. You know, I think for our listeners, either you are in corporate. Or you are in entrepreneurship. You know, this is a space, this is a room that you wanna get in with Annie to really learn what else she's offering. For those of you who incorporate that, you need to have the support of women who actually does see you, not in competition, not gonna, you know, compare and despair with you, not gonna pull you down.

This is the space. Even join the membership, even listen to the podcast, get on the magazines and sorry for women who are thinking about entrepreneurship is to think about how else, you know, from a product perspective, your e-commerce, you know, website is something that we all can think about. Either, you know, referring a, someone who wants to sell earrings, you know, soap, or you know what, maybe.

I think that's amazing. And so that is wonderful Now, Couple of other questions that I'm curious to know. So tell us your business goal. I know you said a lot about, you know, you get to measure your business, and I always remember this because the, the words of Drager always go, what gets measured gets done.

And sir, tell us, what do you see your business to be like in the next five years? So exciting. So, okay. My big vision at the moment is to actually feel, it's gonna be hard to define that I have directly contacted a million women, right? And we have these fictitious numbers, you know, is it actually a million my kids say?

I go, I don't know, but it's like believing in the dream, right? So I wanna feel that I've actually created something that I, it has the potential to directly impact a million women. And what I'm trying to do there is. Do something that has encouraged them or helped them to increase their financial independence.

That's how I actually measure it. At the core of all the things that I do, what am I truly trying to do? I'm wanting more women in the world, one woman at a time to create, join a movement that supports them. You know, whether you do a startup incubator or a scale up incubator, or just come along in some way, you have become financially more independent because financial independence gives you freedom, and freedom is my number one value.

If you don't have freedom, you do not have choice. All right? And you want, I want you women listening in to really think about that. You know, it's all really nice for us, you know, at some stage going, you know, well, we care. We wanna give some money for someone, or help someone who's living in a car or in a domestic violence situation or, or trapped in a relationship that they don't want to be in for a whole lot of reasons.

Why? Because I don't wanna give a bandaid treatment. They can't leave, they don't have the options or the options are terrifying. They have fear, right? Mm. But it's very risky and you better the devil, you know? And so by me, hopefully, my goal is to have a, a, a business that then helps to, you know, whether it's via paid work or philanthropic work, to have to have met that sort of, had that touch point with a million women.

And I go, have I helped you in some way to become more financially independent? 'cause when you actually get to that moment, whether, whatever that income level is for you, and that will be different in different, 'cause I work on a global stage, you know, for some they go, oh, I couldn't live if it was under a hundred grand and others go, I could do 50 or another one goes, oh my goodness, whatever.

So we all measure differently, but whatever that. Moment is you then go, oh, I individually, as a woman on this planet, can make choices that are good are great for my, myself personally. Professionally, they, they link to your safety and your security and your heart. So I'm a heart warrior. I've just had a book come out called Heart Warrior.

I'm a total heart warrior, and so I'm, it's driving. How will I measure it when I hear more and more and more stories of women going because of you, Annie Gibbons and your tribe, or your movement? I actually, now, I reached a stage in my life, whether it took five years. Whether it took them 10 years, they'll go, I became, I realized one day I actually independent of my own right.

And now I don't have to do certain things. Not that you don't wanna ab obey people. You're not that you've gotta leave something, but you go, I have choice. And I'll tell you what choice is, like the, the, the opening, the locket of, of someone. It's just their, it's their whole essence explodes when you have true freedom and choice because you then go, yeah, where do I wanna live?

Who do I wanna be in relationships with? How do I wanna spend my time? How do I wanna spend my money, my energy? All of these things, that person is the vision of a thriving woman, and I wanna see women thriving. I love that. I love that very much. And sorry, the heart-centered component is so important. I think a lot of us, some stage in our lives had our hearts hardened because of scenarios that happened, whether it's divorce, disease, death, whatever, maybe.

But it's also time to soften our hearts and to really bring our full self into it. And this is a space. This is again, another room to be sharing with Annie and myself that we can come on board and support you, embrace you, see you open doors for you, and so that's amazing. Now, Annie, of course, you mentor lots of people and you coach lots of people.

Who are your mentors? Who are your mentors? Interesting. I have a couple of business mentors. One of them woman, one of them a man. I do love men by the way. Lots of awesome men out there championing for us. So I do have business coaches and I align with people. I change those every. Two to three years, because I want them to be a little bit further ahead on my journey and with, with a demonstrated track record that I get, you know, and then when I get to that stage, I then wanna evolve where, where am I moving on forward?

My true mentors are, are, are actually just in my, in my, I. In my mind, in my heart, which were my grandmothers, so I ha I was raised by two pioneering grandmothers from opposite sides of the world. One was born an aristocrat in Russia. And through the fall of Zar, Nicholas ended up, you know, becoming a refugee in Australia.

But she, she acted like a princess. Like she got raised, you know, as a, as a bit of a princess. And so, and she actually always said to me when, oh, you're a, you know, a little girl. She goes, Annie, you just gotta, you've just gotta believe everything is. Possible act like you've got diamonds in your pocket.

Right? And this is what she had. She would grew up filthy rich, but then even as she, she, when she fled, she had diamonds in her pocket and then she lost most of those diamonds on her trip and probably came to Australia with none. But if you think like a woman with diamonds in your pocket, you actually had change your mindset and you say, I believe that all things are possible because why are they not possible?

Because of money, because of opportunity, because of connections. That's what the message she was telling me as I was a kid. And I'm going, wow, she's a cool grandma. Right. And she was very funny. Then I had this other grandmother who grew up dirt poor in Australia, right? So she was like, Cinderella, scrubbed the floors.

Mother left the family when she was two and she actually told me the other message. And when I said, Annie, you you have to work for everything you get. Don't you expect other people to do anything? They won't. You have to be independent. You have to fight for everything you want. The world's not gonna owe you a favor 'cause that was her, her truth.

And I'm a combination of the two of them. Jocelyn, I, I just see it all the time, like these little words of my grandmothers, it's almost like I just channel them now and I go, yeah, you, you believe in the dream. Like you've got diamonds in your pocket. Don't under, don't undersell what is truly possible and then don't.

Then I actually, then I start channeling the other one going, yeah, but you're gonna have to work, you're gonna have to do the degrees, you're gonna have to put your money there. You're gonna have to put the time and the energy. And by, by. By these two women. So they're like my soul sisters, I suppose, which is why I want the business that's there.

I'm there for my grandmother. Granddaughters, like we're all a living story, right? Of what drives us. And then I always wanna then have mentors and coaches that I want. I always wanna be, it's like I believe everyone should be mentored and I'd love to mentor anyone who would love that. But I also want to always be mentored myself, and I also wanna have a coach and they're different in my mind.

So mentor is actually, I'm learning from their wisdom. I can ask that question. What would you do? Then I wanna choose whether I agree with that or disagree, but I wanna know there, 'cause that's where you'll get their gems. That's where you'll get their gold nuggets and go, yeah. 'cause I've seen all these scenarios.

This is what I do to people. That's why I love mentoring more than coaching actually, you, you, they've read the, they read the game. They've had, they've seen the pain, they've experienced it for themselves or others. Coaching says this is the way it's done. Follow these steps and you'll get there and you know, and my incubators and other programs are like that.

Follow the steps, we'll do it together. You will be successful. You know, but you'll be successful according to the recipe. The mentoring, I think is, gives you the X factor because that then makes it, it's the relationship. And so I think that the two of those, that's how I, how I operate now. That's how I think everybody should find out what drives you deep down and know yourself well.

And then always be making sure that you've got something filling your cup, mentoring and coaching. And also, don't just choose someone who is popular. Choose someone who is on your journey ahead of you. And that is, that is the important thing because then they relate. Then you can go, oh, like it's, it's, it's easier than them trying to understand your context.

Love those wisdom. Love those wisdom. Now, couple rapid fire questions. Hmm. Tell us your morning routine. Well, I'm a bit of a, I've got a bit of a mixed morning routine. Half the week I sleep in, wake up, say meditation, get myself all zen and go, what am I, you know, what am I going to do to today? How am I gonna, you know, add, create something and leave something?

So I go through this a bit more of a spiritual sort of slow rise, and then the other half of the week is my granddaughter's. Popping in the bedroom and go wake up nana. And you know, like, can we play dollies before school or this or that? Do you know what I mean? So, and on those days, I do it at the other end, I kind of go, right, well, at the end of the ni you know, in the evening I do the opposite.

You know, what am I thankful for today? How am I going to, you know, To do that in the, in the morning or I, I, to always have this sort of great, you know, a, a gratefulness attitude. I'm big on affirmations. I know they're a little bit like, ooh. But I, I find them great. I just get one out for the day and I place it somewhere that I'm going to notice so I don't just kind of read it in bed and I'll then go and get something and I'll probably have something in my little drawer right here.

And I usually have one and I'll then just pop it either on my screensaver or somewhere. I can see that. I just try and have something that's, Stirs me every day. And then I'm also just. Big routine on just eating healthy and making sure I exercise every day. Because yeah, I just find if I'm not fit I just start feeling sluggish.

So I just always kind of go right, you know, when I have my me time, I've gotta have the exercise time, my work day. But because I travel all around the world and, and. You know, I'm always on the go. I've gotta have a routine that doesn't only work in a, in one situation. You know, I think when you get into a routine, you go, I have to have my yoga mat here, and I have to have this here, and I have my coffee or this or that, then that's it.

It's, it's okay if you can, if that's maintainable, I always have something. I go considering my context at this time, then what's gonna work for me? And I can then be aware of that and adjust it. I wanna know why I'm doing my routine for what reason. You travel a lot. Tell us your favorite travel tip. Travel tip is, oh, there's a few.

Don't over pack is a secret travel light. You don't need that much. And know what you're traveling for. I also go, if you're traveling, what's the one big you know, you'll have a, have an agenda. So most of the time I'm on business. But you'll always be in a town and you go, there's, there's something, what one thing?

'cause you'll get busy, do you not wanna miss? Right. And how are you gonna prioritize? It's a bit like my diary. You know, I put my granddaughters in first on my diary. Well, where if I'm going travel. Ling, what am I putting in first before I even get busy? Right. Because those things matter. They're the things that you suddenly, we actually went out for dinner the other night with 'cause I was in New Zealand a couple of days ago and, and we went out for dinner and, and that couple had lived on Cook Islands for like two years and they'd never gone to the next neighboring island because they were just busy.

And we're like going, how is that? And they're like, I know. How is that possible? Right? Everyone else wants to go there for a holiday. It's absolutely gorgeous. And they're like, we're living right next door and just didn't do it. So it's a bit like, you know, what do you actually, you know, is there something there?

Is there someone somewhere you wanna visit? Is there some food you wanna experience? Is there some person you wanna connect with? I always do that. So we've just been to New Zealand and I go, okay, well I wanted to, you know, I wanted to go on a hike somewhere. I wanna then meet some people for dinner. I then wanna If I've got anyone in my tribe, I always go and say, I am in your town.

Who can I connect with? So things like that, then I, then I know. And then I don't want a whole lot of stuff 'cause I don't wanna be that person who's just like crowded out with just this weighted bags. I look at people at the airport and go, what an earth is in those bags? So I'm a bit of a lean, a lean traveler.

'cause it just makes, it makes you more portable. I don't know. I just like the, I just like feeling lacked and I'm a hard cut. I'm used to packing a lot of things. I, when I climb mountains, it's like I've gone, I've done the ARO space camp in the high passes, like 19 days with a backpack, and you go, if you can do 19 days with less than 10 kilos in your bag, like seriously, you don't need that much stuff.

I love that. I'm also a light traveler because I think you can repurpose a lot of things. It's just being creative about it. So gotta roll the dresses, right? Yeah. Don't get anything. Dress it up and dress it down. Roll it and have those That's right. Work them around. It's amazing what you can do. Yeah. What is your favorite cuisine and why?

Oh, Thai. Thai. Thai, Thai. I love ju. I love I think it's just the coriander or the, the, the sweet and the, and the chilies. I don't know. I spent three months in Thailand once and I just as a kind, you know, I've been all. A lot of places around the world and I, I like, you know, I love food and I love smells, but Thai food I could seriously eat like every day.

I just don't get sick of it. It's just, it's light. It's, you know, stir fries is beautiful flavors and it just, it's so, it's the food, but it also connects me with, I had a really good time there and I think a lot of, if it's emotional right, it's sociable social. And I think it was at a time of my life where, you know, James and I had only just got married, so it's like 35 years ago.

And and we went off and we did this trip. So I think it was a journey of, of just suddenly, you know, becoming this new couple and, and growing up and then and experiencing, and I think it must've just rested deep in myself. So whenever, you know, you get those nights at home and what, what's, you know, who wants pizza?

Who wants India? And I'm like going Tyy. Yeah, because I just, I just love it, you know, so it's really simple. I don't have a sweet tooth, so I don't, and I'm, I can't eat dairy, a lot of dairy, so I find it's just really easy. I love going to home in Sydney. Home Thai is amazing and yeah, I love Thailand. The food, the culture, the people, the massages, the spa.

I know the, all that. So good. Well, we'll have to meet at home for a Thai. Thai. Yes. Sometime we'll do that given we are in Australia now. Next question. If you have warned a hundred million. Today, what would you spend with that? A hundred million dollars. Oh hundred million. That is ridiculous. Obviously as a mother and with a mother heart, I would obviously try and keep a significant, you know, slaby bit just to, you know, what's my dream that all of my five adult children would be able to afford a house in Sydney?

You know, like, so obviously I'd, I'd have to carve up. Let's just think a million each. Give them 2 million each. 'cause I've just won this ridiculous amount. You've done that, I would probably then go into that desire of mine. I'd probably go into African food projects or food or water or education.

Water's a really big thing and I've got a couple of women in my tribe who are really big on, you know, you can change women's opportunities globally because of the whole addressing the issue of water. There's people who take, you know, young girls from, you know, from early teens. You then don't get educated 'cause you spend six hours a day just collecting water.

Right? Yes. So there's water, water issues, water hygiene food projects. I'd probably go and sort of arrive at United Nations and go, hello, I've got pots of money. How can I help? And and I think that, you know, being an educationalist, change management, CEO and with a heart for all of this sort of stuff, I think you know, I think.

To be able to, I'd probably go, what can I just, you know, help with? But also micro loans, I'm a big fan of that. So by, because that actually makes people work. And there's a lot of people, which I know if you give something free, they don't value it. But if you, if I had like, you know, so many say I've touched these million women's lives and I go, you know what, now we're ready to.

Scale up 'cause that's just run won the jackpot. I could then go, right, I'll give you a loan that you then pay back. But you're going to do that because you are then going to invest in more and more business. And that's when you change to another level as well. Because not only are they then having a business that's stung well for themselves, they're then enacting generational change.

Right. So if you have one successful business that's great for you and your immediate family, but when you have a bigger business, a growing scalable business, you then all of your children go, that is possible for me. I've seen it as evidence those children can work in the business. Generations after them in your family line will change because of the impact of you just showing that.

You can be a successful entrepreneur. So I'd probably do that kind of model globally. That I would then be available to then give out micro loans because then, and I also, I'm a bit selfish, honestly, Jocelyn. So I think get to enjoy the journey with them, right. Be part of that and like, who wouldn't wanna do that?

Share those wins. And so it, we just collaborate. All the mentoring, the coaching, the, the financial giftings oh my gosh, that would just blow my mind with excitement. So let's make it possible because it is so possible. It's so possible. So, you know, it's so important because I like the comment that you said, you know, giving micro loans because people who pay.

Attention when you have free staff. People don't take it seriously, so people who pay pay attention. And one final last question is that, you know, with all this wisdom, knowledge, background that you have got, where else can people find and connect with you if they want to learn even more about your work?

Oh, thank you. All we have to do is drop onto womens biz global.com. Okay. Women's Biz Global will tell you about the tribe, about my the summits. You can find out. Come along to a summit this weekend. 12, 12 hours, including Jocelyn speaking. 55. Speakers, you can come along to my, you join the tribe for free for a month.

Just come and hang out and try. You can then find out about books and publishing and branding and all of our programs. They're just all, everything is on women's biz global.com. And and then actually first thing you want them wanna do is just book call and we can meet. Say hello. And, and, 'cause I wanna do that with everyone.

I wanna truly find out what your needs are. So the conversation like we've had now, I wanna have that conversation, you know? Well, what made you even reach out and go to that website? What made you wanna have a conversation? What would change your world if you want that? I. Million, you know, million so that you can really get straight to the, you know, the source of what's going to help that person on their journey.

That's what I wanna do for them. So if that resonates with any of your listeners, come and have a little visit and we can meet up very soon. Amazing. Well, thank you Annie for all the wonderful stuff that you shared. You are an action taker. You are a change maker. You impact the world already in so much of what you're doing and with all the extensive, you know, new TV shows that you are expanding on the new e-commerce environment, that you're looking for more opportunities for women to come and sell their products.

Tons of stuff, so keep working on that. We support you. We see you. We appreciate you, we love you, and thank you for being part of this podcast. Bye. Phenomenal.