In The Game Podcast

Cara Aprile's Mission to create the World's Largest & Healthiest Tuckshop

• Nat Cook & Sarah Maxwell

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Meet the founder and CEO of Lily's Little Lunchbox, Cara Aprile, who knows firsthand the challenges and rewards of turning a personal commitment into a successful enterprise. 

As a single mother, Cara's journey began with the creation of healthy lunches for her daughter Lily, and it has since evolved into a pioneering company in healthy tuck shop deliveries. 

Join us as Cara shares her inspiring story, offering insights into her strategic growth, extensive research, and unwavering determination that have led her to be a finalist in the 40 Under 40 Awards.

Discover how a background in dietetics and a passion for nutrition can open doors to diverse career opportunities beyond the traditional routes. Whether you're a university student, a new mother, or someone contemplating a career shift, these stories encourage you to think creatively and embrace the power of flexibility in your professional journey.

Tune in as we celebrate the trailblazing spirit of women who carve their own paths...shining a light on empowering narratives that inspire action!

The Podcast's 7th Season
Welcome to In the Game, a podcast where we aim to touch, move and inspire you to what's possible in life. My name is Sarah Maxwell and I am a self-proclaimed relationship engineer. Ever since I was a little girl, I was curious about how people work and how they interact with one another. With a degree in biopsychology representing my country of Canada in beach volleyball. With a degree in biopsychology representing my country of Canada in beach volleyball, retiring from sport into mindset and purpose coaching, I now spend my days running Chatta-box Media, where we aim to story-tell for brands through the medium of podcasting, all while raising an eight-year-old daughter with my partner of 24 years. We are now in season seven of this podcast, featuring a special series on women called who Knew that Was Work aimed at young women who want to broaden their horizon when it comes to career choosing.

Go deeper into the pod and discover incredible stories of changemakers who manifest their dream lives. Gain tangible tools to apply to your own life by scrolling back to that initial season where we were more workbook focused. Have a laugh when we initially were coined the Nat and Sarah show, when my five-time Olympian partner, natalie Cook, and I bantered and had loads of fun interviewing and discovering our common passion individuals who rise to the occasion in life. Okay, now it's time to dive on in to this episode.

Ge...

Audrey:

Hello, my name is Audrey and I'm seven years old. I'm Australian by Australian heritage. We wish to acknowledge the land on which this podcast is being recorded, minjim country, the place of the blue water lilies. We are inspired by the world's oldest living culture and seek wisdom from the people who came before us, the Jagra and Turrbal people. We pay our deepest respects to the tradition of storytelling when we share people's stories and we extend our respect. All Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first Australians, peoples as the first Australians.

Sarah Maxwell:

Welcome to In the Game, a podcast where we aim to touch, move and inspire you to what's possible in life. My name is Sarah Maxwell and I am a self-proclaimed relationship engineer. Ever since I was a little girl, I was curious about how people work and how they interact with one another. With a degree in biopsychology, representing my country of Canada in beach volleyball, retiring from sport into mindset and purpose coaching, I now spend my days running Chattabox Media, where we aim to storytell for brands through the medium of podcasting, all while raising an eight-year-old daughter with my partner of 24 years. We are now in season seven of this podcast, featuring a special series on women called who Knew that Was Work aimed at young women who want to broaden their horizon when it comes to career choosing. Go deeper into the pod and discover incredible stories of changemakers who manifest their dream lives. Gain tangible tools to apply to your own life by scrolling back to that initial season where we were more workbook focused. Have a laugh when we initially were coined the Nat and Sarah show, when my five-time Olympian partner, natalie Cook and I bantered and had loads of fun interviewing and discovering our common passion individuals who rise to the occasion in life. Okay, now it's time to dive on in to this episode. Today, I get to sit down with the founder and CEO of Lily's Little Lunchbox, cara April, and I wasn't about to let this husky voice of mine keep me away from this conversation.

Sarah Maxwell:

Cara is on a mission to be the world's largest and healthiest tuck shop delivered. With tuck shops in decline and parents having less time to plan and prepare meals daily, cara's business is set to address this need in a meaningful way. In 2013, an idea started to brew inside this dietician's entrepreneurial mind. As a single mother at the time, she would wake up and commit to preparing a healthy and balanced lunch for her daughter, lily, before heading out to her job at the well-respected CSIRO. Any one of us who have done this know that it's no easy feat. She would then arrive at her workplace she doesn't want her old bosses to know this part, but she would spend all her extra moments on her passion project. This idea just she could not shake it. After seven years of extensive research, product development and refining her business plan, cara invested a hundred thousand dollars and launched her business in 2021. She has been steadfast ever since, ensuring guaranteed freshness by using high quality in-season produce and state-of-the-art sealing processes, building strong partnerships with distribution channels and investing in marketing and customer experience. These have also been instrumental in her business growth. As a recent finalist in the globally recognized 40 Under 40 Awards, which celebrates the impact of the finest young Queensland leaders and entrepreneurs, cara's dream is well and truly on track.

Sarah Maxwell:

Welcome, cara to In the Game podcast and our special series called who Knew that Was A Career Aimed at women in their 20s wondering what's possible for them out in the big wide world of business and work. Cara, are you ready for this conversation? I am. Thank you, sarah Gosh. We have battled for this conversation, haven't we? We?

Cara Aprile:

have, but we're here today, which is I'm excited about it.

Sarah Maxwell:

Me too. I actually, from the moment I met you, I instantly had a million questions, and you know, we were on a sidewalk and I just wanted to ask you all sorts of things and I didn't have enough time. So I'm so glad that today I wanted to ask you all sorts of things and I didn't have enough time. So I'm so glad that today I get to ask you all those things that were brewing since I first met you no, it's exciting.

Cara Aprile:

I remember that too. I think we were standing out the front of the butchers yes, the most random of places to be standing um, but we get to.

Sarah Maxwell:

We get to exactly those questions today exactly, and it was near. It was cool because we're outside of your facility and it was, you know. I guess it's a realization of how far you've come and I I'm quite curious actually how old your daughter, lily, is today. To start things off, you know, just sort of like to set point us, because this all started when you were making those lunch boxes for her back in the day. But how old is Lily now?

Cara Aprile:

So Lily is, she's 11 years old now and she is taller than me. Um, she's quite tall for her age, so I'm still trying to adapt to that now, I guess. Um, but yes, I would wake up, obviously. When she was younger I was studying dietetics, so I was obviously had that and still do have had that focus of healthy eating and instilling healthy habits in her. I would wake up at 5am each morning. We were living on the Gold Coast at the time and I would get up at 5 am and prepare her lunch. I would then take her down to Burley Beach, let her go for a little play on the sand before she got dropped off to daycare, and that was kind of how my my workday weeks have been.

Sarah Maxwell:

So what kind of commitment did it take back then? I know as a dietician you knew the importance of a healthy meal, but I mean, sleep would have been kind of important to you too. Did you ever like lag on any?

Cara Aprile:

of that? Yeah, of course it was. I guess in terms of the healthy eating component and committing to getting up early, I think, because I've always gotten up early for the gym or gotten up I'm an early riser anyway so that commitment wasn't as difficult. It's obviously tough. Um, as you know, there's lots of different aspects of being a mom that are tough. That was one aspect that I guess I just didn't want to ever compromise on was what was going into her lunchbox and making sure she was getting the right food each day.

Sarah Maxwell:

Yeah, Thank you for that, and I suppose in some ways it highlights why you were so passionate about this project that we're about to, you know, kind of track how that idea came to form and how you've stuck to it all these years. Now that Lily's 11. So can you just navigate us back to high school days, Because this series is really geared to you know, women in their 20s who are wondering what's available to them and career and stuff. So I want to sort of get back into what it was like for you in high school and when you really didn't really you didn't really. You didn't know what you wanted for your life and how did you even end up in dietetics?

Cara Aprile:

Yes. So when I was in year 12, I had no idea what I wanted to do Absolutely none I did. I applied to university for interior design. I got accepted but I declined it because I just didn't, I, I, it just didn't feel right for me. So I took, when I finished year 12, I took a year off and I just worked, um, in a in a little primary school reception just doing admin, trying to figure out what I wanted to do.

Cara Aprile:

I then so I I actually came from Mackay, so I'm from up north, and it's normal for kids there when they finish school, a lot of them move away into the cities so Brisbane, melbourne, sydney to pursue their studies. I obviously didn't do that. I stayed in Mackay for that year to work and then it was halfway through that year that I was like, actually I'm interested in beauty therapy. So I've always loved skincare and, I guess, just that whole looking after myself, because I've always enjoyed the nutrition component of that as well. But yeah, so went into beauty therapy, so moved to Brisbane, brisbane, became a beauty therapist. It was midway through studying beauty therapy or doing my training for that, that we had a nutrition component in there that really piqued my interest, um, and that's when I recognized that that's actually the avenue I want to go down.

Cara Aprile:

So during university, I was quite fortunate in that I had an epic job as a beauty therapist while I was studying. So I wasn't you know. They both kind of complimented each other too, I guess, when I was in my 20s. So I actually had my daughter at 25, I was still at university studying, which was interesting because you're with, you know, you're around your peers who are a little bit younger than that. And then to be 25, having a baby, I didn't know how that was going to go. Um, I actually made a commitment to myself that I would not stop uni once I had her. I had to keep going because I knew that if I stopped, um, I may never go back again.

Sarah Maxwell:

So I just want a little pause in that moment, because thank you for highlighting this, because you tell it now, but at the time, like that means you did, you were pregnant all through uni. You have kids, you have her, and then you have Lily, and then you actually go back to finish.

Cara Aprile:

I did so. I actually I had a cesarean and I it. I was very fortunate that it fell right in my mid semester break, my cesarean and I said to my obstetrician can I have it? I know this is going to sound extremely selfish of me, but can I actually have it at the start of my uni holidays and not towards the end, so that I can have those couple of weeks off and then I'm going straight back to uni? So I don't know how I did it. I think you just go into autopilot mode when you really want something. You kind of just go into autopilot mode and you just make it work. And were you a single?

Sarah Maxwell:

mom straight away.

Cara Aprile:

No, I wasn't. So I was with Lil's dad for the first 18 months of her life. Um, and then that's when we separated.

Sarah Maxwell:

Yeah, got it.

Cara Aprile:

Yeah.

Sarah Maxwell:

Like really intense stuff. I actually, when you talk about this period of um, you know before even beauty therapy and when you didn't know what you wanted to do with your life, was that a hard time?

Cara Aprile:

Was that? Yeah, it was. It's one of those periods where I think a lot of you know, when you're 16, 17, even 15, um it's, it's quite a um. You're learning and you're growing, but you don't know what you want, and it's overwhelming. But I think sometimes it's good to just take a step back, which is why I had that year off, take a step back to reassess. Um, maybe just, you know, find find a job that you know you enjoy. You don't have to do it for the rest of your life, but just find something, because you'll find in those jobs certain skills that you enjoy or certain tasks that you enjoy doing, and then that can help with deciding on. Actually, maybe I do want to, you know, go down this path, or actually I didn't realise that I was interested in this and I want to find out more about that.

Sarah Maxwell:

Yeah, that's really good advice actually, because I think at the time you you feel like every decision has to be monumental. You know all your choices, yet tracking your story it's like really one thing led to the other. So so you graduate as a dietitian, you get work in that industry. Was it everything you hoped it?

Cara Aprile:

would be. It's interesting. I have always said I would love to go and speak to dietetic students about the avenues that they can take. I never wanted to be a clinical dietitian, which is, you know, the pathway that majority of dietitians go down. I never wanted to work in a hospital. I never wanted to work in private practice. I can't stand being in the same four walls each day. I like being out and about and I think one thing that I love telling dietetic people or students is think outside the box. There's, you know, the skill. Yes, you're learning the knowledge, but the skills that come with the degree that you chose. You know whether it's communication skills, problem solving, even creativity. You've got to be creative with your patients. You know if they're struggling to eat certain foods or you know you're trying to encourage them to eat something else that will benefit them. You've got to be creative in how they can get that food into them. So there's so many different avenues to go down, and that's what I love. Yeah, that's cool.

Sarah Maxwell:

That's really interesting. I don't want to leave alone this idea. Well, it's not an idea, the reality that you're a single mom with a child under two, you know. So what were some of the biggest challenges and like, really talk to me even about the mental, emotional, like what is it like to have everything depend on you? It's scary.

Cara Aprile:

Well, at that time it's scary. Well, at that time it was scary. Now, now that I've gone through that, it's not anymore, because I came out the other end. Um, it's, it's scary. You've got a child who is relying on you financially, emotionally um, you know it's when you're at home and you're like, if something happens to me, she doesn't know how to use a phone to call help. Um, but I think it's one of those things that I actually look at it now as such a positive. I'm grateful I went through that experience because it taught me you know how strong I actually am. It taught me to be resilient. You know you grow as a human being from those experiences. So I think I don't want to focus on any of the negatives with it. It's more, it's a positive experience now in my head.

Sarah Maxwell:

Would you say that it served you in some way? When I think about you know you taking on this business idea and actually jumping and we're going to talk about all that, is some of that, the same kind of feeling of responsibility you have when you're like a single mom, like that. Are there any similarities?

Cara Aprile:

I think so. It's a huge risk. I mean, like becoming a single mom. You've got to. I know in my situation it was do we stay together or do we not? You know, is she going to be happy in a household with the two of us together, or will she be happier with us separate? So it's a risk that you're taking because you've got to make that decision and you don't know how it's going to end up either way. And so, yeah, I think in the same way with starting a business, it is a huge risk. However, I would much rather take that risk and you know it potentially doesn't work out, but I learned from it as opposed to sitting and not taking that risk but actually having regrets that you know I regret not doing that. Yeah, got it.

Sarah Maxwell:

So cool. Okay, let's talk about when you started dreaming up the startup. So somehow, amidst all the things that you had to focus on as a single mom, you start dreaming up this idea, and so take me through when it's in dream phase to when you actually start plotting as if it's going to happen one day.

Cara Aprile:

Yeah, so it would have been back in 2013, I think it was was that's kind of when the concept started coming to mind? Um, it all. It all obviously started from, you know, packing Lil's lunchbox. Um, my passion being in health and wellness and nutrition. Um, but also to, I guess, from the dietetic side.

Cara Aprile:

As dietitians, you want to help people. That's a driver for choosing that career. Um, so I guess for me it was helping. How can I help more of the population on a bigger scale? And that was one way of me being able to do that. Um, so, between 2013 and 2021, there was a lot of times that I was obviously working full time during that period. But on the side, as you mentioned earlier in the intro, probably don't want to tell your employers that while you're doing your job, you're also working on this little side project and you're doing research about it working on this little side project and you're doing research about it. But I guess my full-time work was giving me the skills to grow, as you know, my business skills, because I was always in sales during that time. So I was building my skills and building up the confidence to take the leap, to be able to launch the business.

Sarah Maxwell:

So, like, seven years is quite a long time. So when you start to think you know what you're doing for your daughter, you see that this could help other people. What's the first step? Like, what did you do? Did you like, did you was? Well, obviously Google's around, so did you Google if there was other people doing things like this? Is that what? What's the first step? What do you do?

Cara Aprile:

Yeah, I think for me I was putting I was doing a business plan, you know cause in my head I was like, how am I going to get all these meals out to, you know, the Australian population? That was a time where the supermarkets only just started doing home deliveries as well, and I think maybe there was one other pre-made meal business out there that was doing home deliveries. It wasn't a common kind of situation to be in, so there was that component to it, like so the logistics, there was researching, like what do kids actually want? Is there actually actually a need for this? Yes, like, does does the market actually want this? Um, so there was all of that. And then even just, you know, playing around with uh, recipes and menus, and then so all the product development side as well. Packaging is another thing. You've got to do your research for packaging. There's a whole heap of things, and even when we launched, there was a million things that we I still didn't.

Cara Aprile:

I wasn't there of course, and you know dietries, allergies all of that comes into it as well.

Sarah Maxwell:

And so when you're finally ready to launch, like the pre-launch in 2021, and you have a hundred thousand dollars, like what's the very first thing you do? Like you produce one lunch box. Is that what you?

Cara Aprile:

do, yeah. So we we set up a website, um, and we were putting out a few little teasers on social media that something is coming soon and it's launching on this day. We didn't really give people too much information about what was happening, but just that something was coming. To try and build a little bit of hype, we launched the website, went live, and I remember sitting there so I can see every time someone comes onto my website. So I was sitting there just watching people come on. When we got our first order, it was the most exciting thing, I think I screamed and we had, I think in that first week we had, or that first 24, 48 hours, we had 10 customers Cool, that was a massive win for me. Um, but then I was like, hang on, how are we going to? How are we actually getting these meals out to them? So we had hired. There's kitchens that you can hire, you know, on an hourly basis. We had hired them. I don't have any kitchen or hospitality experience at all, so I was in over my head yeah, absolutely in over my head. But the customers got their orders. I prepared them. So, launching in 2021, I was actually preparing the meals.

Cara Aprile:

It was that last September 2021, that last term four, and during that time that's when we were sort of rolling it out during the Christmas holiday period I actually took a step back and was like I need to reassess this because this is not going to work. Logistically, we were doing three deliveries a week to people's homes because the packaging that we had was compostable and the food just didn't stay fresh for long enough. So it was costing. You know, with drivers and fuels and truck and all of those expenses, it was costing quite a lot and I was like this business will not survive if we continue down that path. Took a step back and then came back in 2022 with a different product, a different menu, um, so we had to kind of rewrite the whole wheel that's cool, that's good to hear that, because I I can hear that even when you say you don't have the kitchen skills or the like.

Sarah Maxwell:

You didn't have that background. Sometimes I think that the ignorance helps you jump. You know, like in a way, if you knew all the things you didn't know, you might not do it, but then once you are in, then you have to overcome all these obstacles and I love that it didn't go perfectly. One question I always have, like how do you manage supply and demand? Like, so you didn't know how many people are going to respond to.

Cara Aprile:

How do you deal with that? So initially, so initially, all our orders were made to order, so when someone placed an order, we would only then order in the ingredients that we need for however many customers we had. Now it's kind of we're growing each week, but it's easier to manage because you kind of just estimate, you know and always have, you've, always we've always got enough supplies there to cover what is happening throughout that week and you can always uh with suppliers. Suppliers come in, you can place a food ingredient order and the suppliers will drop that off the next day. So it's as fresh as possible.

Sarah Maxwell:

Amazing. It's really. I think restaurants deal with that a lot too. You know, I've always been really curious how they nail that. So, um, yeah, I guess, with what you do and and we get to experience your lunchboxes, and they really not only are they fresh, they stay fresh for that whole week, which is really cool. So you really achieve that.

Cara Aprile:

So definitely that was one thing that I was like how is it, how are other companies doing it? And there was a lot of research that went into that to find the best product. It wasn't easy, because majority of companies sell just the one tray compartment, whereas ours is the three, because we wanted it to look like bento style lunch boxes. Um, so yeah, there was. We had to.

Sarah Maxwell:

A lot of research was done in that area, so you, you're saying the word we, um, so we, we kind of didn't mention that behind the scenes. You weren't a single mother anymore, and so there was some help was there, and so could you share the funny story about what you spoke about with your now husband, chris, on your first date.

Cara Aprile:

Yeah, it's funny. I feel you're not supposed to tell people your secrets or your plans, especially if you don't want them to be kind of copied or get have someone else doing it first. Um, I must have felt extremely comfortable around him to tell him my plan. So we had no idea who any of us, who either of us, were. Um, it was a first date. I was obviously vibing with him and and then that's when I I don't even know how the conversation started. I think I just started telling him. He just seemed like I guess too, because he's got a business background um, he just seemed like the kind of person to almost be a sounding board, to see is this an idea or is it not? And yeah, now he's a part of the business. Awesome.

Sarah Maxwell:

And how do you define roles in the business, like, how does it work? So he was there from launch day, so he was a part of it. How do you guys define your roles?

Cara Aprile:

So we both have very different strengths and weaknesses. So my strengths obviously in the product side of things, in developing the menu. He's a more behind the scenes and building the business, so he loves all the business development side of things. So I think, with our strengths and weaknesses, we've clearly defined them and now we each know Obviously there's overlap at times because, you know, as a founder, I do need to be at certain meetings and I need to, you know, be talking to certain individuals. So there is overlap there. But yeah, for the majority of it we've got clear, clear strengths and clear weaknesses.

Sarah Maxwell:

And is it important to you that you be the founder? Like, is that a thing, or is it just inherent? Like you know you are and you don't need like tell me about that.

Cara Aprile:

I never. I didn't pursue it to be a founder of something. It's really something. I just really wanted to do it and I think by default I was labeled a founder, I guess.

Sarah Maxwell:

So it's not something that you fight for in terms of.

Cara Aprile:

No, definitely not, and sometimes I like to stay behind the scenes. So when we first launched, I actually didn't tell anyone I was doing it. I didn't show my face, I guess because I was so nervous that if it didn't work out I didn't want to go through that kind of it's not embarrassment, but I just didn't want to have to go through that to say that I took a risk and it didn't work out. Now I'm extremely proud of what we're doing. I always have been proud, but I'm now confident in what we're doing and I'm happy to put my face to it.

Sarah Maxwell:

That's awesome in what we're doing and I'm happy to put my face to it. That's awesome. Thank you for your honesty on that, because I think that it's relatable, that you know, sometimes we hear stories and we can't really imagine the amount of risk that you took. Yeah, but to hear that, yeah, you were scared too. You weren't sure, especially like when you had to step back just let's take a step back for a sec when you had to put on the brakes, when it wasn't working. What was going on for you then?

Cara Aprile:

um, I was.

Cara Aprile:

During that time, I started looking for other work as well because, I was freaking out and it's because I didn't know if it was still going to work. I really wanted it to work and I think that's what got me through, like hang on, just take a breather and focus on, like, what are the issues and let's work on those. I didn't want to go out and get another job, like it was kind of one of those things where I was like I'm going to start looking, but I'm not committed to it, and it was okay. Do you really want it? Yeah, let's go for it. Let's fix the issues. Or what can we fix now? What are the key priorities that we can fix now? And let's work on those. And then, obviously, we're always going to be improving our product, from what it started in 2021 to what it is now two very different things, and it's probably going to change again, you know, in years to come as well.

Sarah Maxwell:

And, on that, what would you say was your vision in 2021, like at launch, to your vision in 2024?

Cara Aprile:

That's a good question actually. So 2021, I was very much tunnel vision. It's kids only. And then, as the years have gone on, we've had people reaching out to us who are on NDIS. We've had adults reaching out to us saying do you, can I buy this? Is it just for kids? We've had, you know, the elderly. And then a huge, huge area that I'm so excited about is sports. So I did not realise the lack of options that was out there for sporting athletes at all. I just did not realise that they were struggling to find meals that you know they can grab and go, they can take in their bag with them, they can have after sport and it's, it's all there. They. They've got all their, all, their all their needs in one.

Sarah Maxwell:

It's like because Nat and I love it so much like even more than our daughter, I think, because in some ways we're more committed to the process and what I've, what we've noticed, and because we were athletes our whole lives. You're like redefining the grab and go situation, because we've always struggled with the thing you can grab is the muffin, or the thing like all the things that have the gluten, or all the things that our bodies didn't want for sport yeah, easy stuff. And so you're constantly battling with that and all the like homemade stuff you needed, like, for example, even from a refrigeration point of view and how to like, because we played beach volleyball. It's like it's gonna get hot, and so we just, whether we're reliving our athlete moment, we just have it in our car all the time and we think, think we, we've just, we're the bees knees as adults with it and all my friends like, it's true, all the moms it's ironic because you kind of sell the mom on it and then it's like we have to convince our kids.

Cara Aprile:

I know, and kids are. They're hard, like I will admit they are hard. It's not as simple as you know. Just eat this fruit. There's a lot that goes into getting them to eat something.

Sarah Maxwell:

So I get it, your choices, and I will tell people it's the good fruit, it's not the we joke. It's not the plain fruit. You know, in the airplane fruit. It's not the we joke, it's not the plain fruit, you know, in the airplane. Yeah, they pick the, the rock melon that nobody in their entire life would eat. Yeah, but no, this is like the blueberries, the strawberry, like all the things you like. It's the good fruit. So the like jordan is a fruit person more than the veggie, and so then you're like kind of pressing on, you know for the carrot, but then again then you provide the hummus, and so then you're like kind of pressing on, you know for the carrot, but then again then you provide the hummus, and so then she's more incentivized. So I think you've done an ultimate job in that department. But I did laugh about how the moms are like instantly, like sold, and then I laughed that the kids take a little bit more though.

Cara Aprile:

I, and we've got so many parents that say, look, I ordered it originally for my children, I'm eating them and I'm just going to continue ordering them. Don't tell anyone, though. I'm like no, that's no, it's, it's not just for kids anymore, like I thought that it was. But I think because you've got, as you mentioned, the variety, the fruits, the veg, you've still got a little treat in there and there's so many different main portions that you can choose from. It's, it's, everyone has been enjoying it.

Sarah Maxwell:

Yeah, you've created a winning product. It's incredible and I love your willingness to be shaped by the consumer, like let people show you the way, whether it's sports people, adults, like people are giving you information and you're taking it, which is really cool, and I can see why you know you're winning these awards and why you keep. Yeah, you just have a stamina for business, which is really exciting.

Cara Aprile:

I think customer feedback is one of the most important things that you can take on. Sometimes it's hard hearing, you know, if there's a comment that you know maybe a customer didn't have as good of an experience as what you wanted. Thankfully that doesn't happen often, but obviously I love listening to when people have feedback, because you can't grow otherwise and if you don't take it on, then you're not listening to what people want.

Sarah Maxwell:

Yeah, it'll come back to haunt you in the end on it definitely so what would you say to young women who are making their career choices right now and they're trying to navigate what area of work, almost like that person that you were back in Makay, you know, trying to figure it all out. What would you say to them right now?

Cara Aprile:

I think if they're feeling overwhelmed, that is completely normal and it's okay. You will figure it out. And even you know I'm in my thirties almost 40, and I'm still figuring it out as well, I guess. So you will get there and it's okay to try one thing and realize that maybe that's not for me, but from that one thing you might find another skill or avenue that you are interested in. That's sort of how my pathway went. You know it wasn't just a straight line I'm to uni, I'm doing this and then that's my job. It was kind of, you know, it was a little journey, but from from where I started, everything that I did led me to where I am now, and that's okay, it can. You know, some people it can take a lot longer, others not so much. But don't feel overwhelmed by it all. Just do what you feel is right at that point in time and the rest will all come, I guess.

Sarah Maxwell:

Love it. I think that's really great advice. You know, to take that next logical step and that well, it's not even logical. Just take the next step and then it starts to fill in the plan for you. And thank you so much for openly sharing your story, even the hard bits, how they. I am sure that being a single mom was not on your vision board, but somehow it was the perfect thing to have on your life plan. So, yeah, I mean, it's all about Lily in the end so amazing. We thank you. And it's all about Lily in the end so amazing. We thank you. And it's been really lovely getting to ask all my questions.

Cara Aprile:

Thank you so much, Sarah. I've enjoyed our chat.

Sarah Maxwell:

You're welcome. Thank you for joining us on another episode of In the Game podcast. We hope we have inspired you with these real lived experiences of incredible women navigating their careers their way. We are all about sharing around here, so if you know someone who would benefit from listening to this podcast or this show in general, do it now and share the love. Pressing follow on the pod makes a massive difference. Taking two minutes to rate us for season seven means that more people will get to hear these stories, which will widen the impact. Join us next time for more captivating stories of female trailblazers who are leaving behind clues for that next generation of women and girls.