Relentless - S07:E22 - Episode 136 - Marianne Marchesi

From burnout to building a business on her own terms.

Watch the full episode on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJkuXaD7_0JPNzYKMuIaMeZxA-F16YgzN


The latest episode of Relentless: Life On Your Terms features a guest who embodies courage, conviction and modern leadership — Marianne Marchesi.

Marianne is the Founder of Legalite, a firm she built from the ground up with a clear mission: challenge the traditional legal model and create something better — for both clients and her team.

Through her work, Marianne is:

⚖️ Redefining the legal experience beyond billable hours
🤝 Building genuine, transparent client relationships
🧠 Leading with empathy while making strong business decisions
📈 Growing a business grounded in purpose and innovation

But what truly stands out is how it all started.

After nearly a decade in traditional legal practice, Marianne reached a breaking point — burnt out, anxious, and disillusioned with a system that prioritised time over trust.

So in 2017, she made a decision.
With just $5,000 and a desk in her spare bedroom, she started her own firm.
No guarantees. No safety net.
What happened next?
Within months, the business was growing.
Within three months, she hired her first team member.
By the end of the year, she had doubled her income.

In this episode, we explore:

🔥 The courage to walk away from a broken system
💡 Why trusting your gut instinct is a business superpower
🧭 Building confidence through execution, not theory
❤️ Creating impact through initiatives like The Giving Project

One of the most powerful takeaways:

Your instinct is often right — but success comes from having the courage to act on it.

This is a conversation for founders, professionals and anyone ready to back themselves and build something meaningful.

🎧 Now live on *Relentless: Life On Your Terms*

#RelentlessPodcast #Leadership #Entrepreneurship #WomenInBusiness #StartupJourney #LifeOnYourTerms

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

That was really deflating and confronting, and it made me question what the future of the firm was.

SPEAKER_02 0:14

Welcome back to another episode of my podcast, Relentless Life on Your Terms. I have Marian Marchese with us, who's owned a law firm since 2007. She's also a fellow Cub member. Thank you so much for being on the show.

SPEAKER_00 0:28

Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited.

SPEAKER_02 0:30

Me too. So I'm very excited to have another Cub member as well. So you're obviously a lawyer. You started working in your law in Law Firm, and you started your business with$5,000 and a handful of clients to where you are today. So tell us a bit about that journey. Tell us about what law you cover as well.

SPEAKER_00 0:47

Yeah, of course. I uh yeah, so I started the firm in 2017. I'd worked in traditional private practice for about 10 years up until that point. Um and hated the billable hour printing absolutely everything. Like we used to have files so, so big, full of emails and documents and everything. Um and the billable hour model in particular was just so inefficient and it led to not having trusted client relationships because inevitably at the end of the month, a client would get a bill that they weren't expecting. Um, and you'd spend days kind of negotiating it, writing off time. So anyway, by the end of 2016, I was over it. I was also very burnt out and I was suffering from anxiety. And I decided I'm just gonna go out and do this on my own. I was prepared to take a pay cut and I worked out of the second bedroom of my apartment at the time. Um, started the firm with$5,000 of my own money. And within months, the practice was growing. Uh, within three months, I hired my first staff member. Um, and I didn't take a pay cut that year, I ended up actually doubling my salary.

SPEAKER_02 2:08

That's fantastic. That is so good.

SPEAKER_00 2:10

Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 2:10

But you had the you had the guts to go out and give it a crack and knowing that this is in most cases a real a realistic possibility.

SPEAKER_00 2:17

And to be honest, I because I think I was prepared to take a pay cut, I I didn't have a huge vision of what I wanted this to be. I I just kind of needed to start to enjoy my life and enjoy the lore again. And I did. Most importantly, I started loving what I was doing again. I love the clients that I worked with and still work with. Um, and it's grown over that um eight and a half years to now a team of 12, um, over 500 clients on the books. And uh I I'm a commercial and franchising lawyer. So I specialize in commercial in franchising, but I'm a commercial lawyer and we have practices across employment, law, and property as well.

SPEAKER_02 3:04

Which is amazing. So look, that first of all, kudos to you to saying I'm gonna give this a go. Makes me really happy to hear that uh you didn't take a pay cut and that you grew from strength and drink. So as you were acquired acquiring clients, um, they probably heard that you were on your own and they started to come to you. Is that how you started building your client client base?

SPEAKER_00 3:23

Yeah. So I had six clients that were with me previously that came across with me. And then a lot of it was through word of mouth and referrals, but also I hustled really hard in the early years. Like I was going out to networking events, putting myself out there for public speaking, networking groups, like I did it all. And this was pre-kids. So I had a lot of time on my hands, but I think I was going to networking events maybe three times a week in the early years.

SPEAKER_02 3:53

And that changes obviously now. You mentioned kids as well. You've got a couple kids?

SPEAKER_00 3:57

Yeah, I've got two, uh boy and a girl.

SPEAKER_02 3:59

Beautiful. I've got four.

SPEAKER_00 4:00

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_02 4:02

A boy, 22, three girls, 12, 9, and 8. How old are you?

SPEAKER_00 4:06

Beautiful. I've got a four-year-old and an almost two-year-old.

SPEAKER_02 4:09

Beautiful gaps. Challenging but awesome. Yeah. So um reading reading up, uh, I mentioned, I I saw you mentioned something about IVF policy, and which really intrigued you. Can you tell me a bit about that? Because that's a really cool thing.

SPEAKER_00 4:23

Yeah. So I recently introduced a fertility and reproductive health leave policy at Legalite. And this came about because of my own journey with fertility struggles. So, in uh, it was probably around 2019 um until 2021 when my son was born, that I struggled to fall pregnant. And um, it essentially took three years to conceive him ultimately going through IVF, which is for anybody who's been through it, very, very emotional, mentally draining, and physically draining. But I was so, so grateful to have my own business whilst I went through this journey because I had freedom and flexibility. Um, I did go through IVF during COVID, so not that much freedom. But um, if I had worked in one of the traditional law firms that I'd previously worked at, absolutely, I just would not have been able to navigate that journey. Um, and it's still, even to this day, it's still quite a taboo topic.

SPEAKER_02 5:30

And shouldn't be, should it?

SPEAKER_00 5:32

It shouldn't be.

SPEAKER_02 5:33

It should be spoken about openly. And yeah, it would it would be if I've got a very close friend that's still trying but had 19 goes of OVF. Yeah. And I see the process and what they go through her and her most amazing humans love them to death. And the amount of physical exhaustion this poor humans going through, they eventually did have a baby that didn't make it that is stillborn as well, just to make it even worse. And the financial burden on them is just it's incredible.

SPEAKER_00 6:04

It's such a burden. And I don't know why it's not spoken about and it's stigmatized. Like I'm not ashamed of it. I'm proud of it. I'm so proud that I went through three years of what I went through and with the support of my husband, and I'm so proud of him as well. But most of all, I'm so, so proud of my children and who they are. And I feel so unbelievably lucky and so blessed. Um, so yeah, so I'm I'm very vocal, as you can tell about talking about it and and recognizing that I wouldn't have had that experience if I didn't have my own freedom and flexibility. So I wanted to introduce that to legalite so that no one who ever works for me has to go through fertility struggles as well as reproductive health struggles and feel like they can't talk about it or they can't take the time they need to navigate it.

SPEAKER_02 6:57

So, what did you introduce? What policy?

SPEAKER_00 6:59

So it's 12 days per annum covering uh fertility and reproductive health. So the team member can choose how they want to utilize that over a year. It might be towards fertility treatment, but it also might be towards menstrual pain like endometriosis or endometriosis surgery or gender-affirming care or vasectomies. It's anything to do with reproductive health, that you should not be expected to dig into your sick leave because you're not sick. And and it's not fair that most or almost everybody has to dig into their sick leave to navigate things that are completely outside of their control that most, you know, um healthy, able-bodied, usually males don't have to dig into.

SPEAKER_02 7:54

I'd like to commend you on being a trail plazer in that because it shouldn't be a taboo topic, and it's very, very hard for anyone that's trying to have a kid, but a female in particular, while trying to have a career, while trying to do a hundred things, I always find it so much harder for a female than it is for a male. Like I got I go to work and um my ex-wife had three k little kids, and I say to her, it's so much harder doing that, no matter what you do at work. So hats off to you and I acknowledging this. That's great. So while you were starting your business, to now give me some of the things that you learned along the way, some of the things you might have done different, and some of the lessons that you learned through starting a law firm.

SPEAKER_00 8:33

I think the main thing for me is the confidence that I built over it. Has taken eight and a half years to feel confident in my ideas and the execution and my instinct. Probably most of all my like my instinct on making a decision. Um, because I'm a very empathetic person by nature. And I think at times I have made decisions because maybe it was the kind thing to do, or you know, whatever. Um, but it might not have been the right business decision. And I knew that in my gut. Um, but over time I have learned to trust my gut and that business instinct. It really is so strong, but it's about actually listening to it and acting on it, which I think.

SPEAKER_02 9:17

And most people have a fear. Your gut instinct is usually the right one, but some people don't have the ability or the I guess strength or courage at the time to execute on what they think. And I um I know I I note that you noted two great books, which is A New Earth by Eckhart Toll and Dead a Lead by uh both books are absolutely amazing books I've found, and they really help you when it comes to leadership. There's so many good books you can read on those topics. Yeah. And when I saw you, I go, I read both of those books. Actually, well, I listened and read them. Yeah. They're very, very good books when it comes to leadership. What are some of the things that um some of the challenges you faced, other than the personal ones, obviously going through that as well?

SPEAKER_00 9:59

Yeah. Um, I feel like every year has brought a different challenge since I started in 2017. COVID was very challenging, but also very positive in a lot of ways, because Legalite was already flexible in its work culture and COVID heightened that for everybody and it made what we were doing the norm. So that was really a challenge, but also really great. Um, but more recently in 2023, Legalite went through some financial challenges. Um, it was kind of at the peak when, you know, everybody was struggling with the cost of doing business and economy. Um, and I was also pregnant at the time with my second child. Just to make it a little more complicated. No. Um, and I was very sick in that pregnancy. So I was not able to be present in the business when it needed me the most. And I also did not have the bandwidth for it either. I was just, I was so over feeling sick, so grateful that I was pregnant again and enjoying all of that. But I just I could I did not physically have the bandwidth for business and being sick and expecting a baby and planning for the future.

SPEAKER_02 11:17

So that was pretty easy.

SPEAKER_00 11:20

Yeah. So that was that was my most challenging year to date was 2023. And um in December of 2023, we couldn't afford to pay myself. I couldn't afford to pay myself a salary, which was the first ever in legal arts history, because even from month one of running my business, it was a principle for me that I would pay myself, even if it was$400, which it was in the first month. Um, but it was for me, I did not start a business to not pay myself. Like it's yeah, I'm not running a charity here. So that was really deflating and confronting. And it made me question what the future of the firm was. Um, and in I had my baby in October um that same year. So December, I was actually on parental leave. Um, and then come January, things were not looking up. And I remember walking into uh the study where my husband was working with my newborn, and I was like, I'm I'm done with this, I can't do this anymore. I was so stressed. I was, you know, obviously trying to look after my baby breast. I was establishing breastfeeding, was very sleep deprived, and everything with the business was still going on, and I was like, I can't do this anymore. I'm done. I'm just gonna like downsize to a sole practitioner, take on one client, and um yeah, like I was very ready to throw in the towel. Um, I actually reached out to some friends of mine who also own a they own law firms as well. And I said, Have you ever felt this way? And they just said to me, Yeah, they did they did. They said every day, but they also said to me, Don't make any decisions whilst you're in the thick of postpartum. Yes, yeah. And I was like, Yeah, true.

SPEAKER_02 13:20

Good advice, but you know what? It's how you feel.

SPEAKER_00 13:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:23

And people say we celebrated our 20 years in business this year.

SPEAKER_00 13:26

Oh, congratulations.

SPEAKER_02 13:28

And people go, oh, you know, the challenges go away. So the challenges get bigger, but you become more strong. You understand that even though the stones are getting bigger, you're becoming you're better at dealing with your emotional intelligence, is better. You've got good people around you. So that was very, very smart of you to reach out. And I kind of knew what their answer was because I've got like two, three business mentors that I've had forever.

SPEAKER_01 13:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:48

And whenever I feel something, I call, and sometimes it's reaffirming what I already think, what I already know. But it's just having that confidence is, you know, when you hear um, how do you feel? I remember I had my um ex-boss used to say to me, When you're in sales, he goes, You've just missed two sales, you've hit a gutter, your tires popped, and it's raining, and you think, ah, tomorrow wake up, it's another day, you're a professional. And he goes, Don't worry about it. And I always remember when things get tough, I remember his words as an in-home consultant driving home late, and that's the day you get the speeding fine, that's the day something happens. Yeah, you get a parking fine for good measure, but the next day's okay. And I think they're the days that really teach you about your resilience, yes, about your business.

SPEAKER_01 14:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:36

And look, like there's no way I was not uh going through AVF or breastfeeding or doing all that. That's a different complexion. So that's pretty incredible. So when they told you that advice, you just said, I've got to I've got to ride this way. What what was your mindset?

SPEAKER_00 14:52

I just took stock. I was like, yep, true. And and as you said, I I think I did know this instinctively. And I just thought, okay, I'm gonna pause. I'm on parental leave. I'm gonna be on parental leave. And this is still a challenge for me in general, in terms of being present wherever I am, because as business owners, you're probably like this too. Um, you're always on, like you're always thinking.

SPEAKER_02 15:19

It's the Eckhart Toll book that you mentioned, isn't it? Exactly. The power of now.

SPEAKER_00 15:23

The power of now, yeah, similar concepts. Um, it's just about recognizing, don't ignore that your, you know, your mind might be elsewhere, but bring it back, that mindfulness. And and that forced me back into mindfulness. That, you know, the advice.

SPEAKER_02 15:42

It's pretty cool, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 15:43

It is cool.

SPEAKER_02 15:44

There's um there's another book I read, and it just tells you if you're feeling some way, acknowledge it. Just stop. Because if you don't acknowledge it, yeah, you're pulling against the current. You've got to go with the current. Yeah. So to dispel something, you need to really acknowledge it and say, you know what, this is a real shitty day today. I'm feeling really, really bad, but overall, it's gonna be okay tomorrow. Is another whatever it is you say to yourself, and when I read that book and I thought, it's so true. When you've got a big challenge and you just say, you know what, I do feel shitty today, it's okay, it's normal.

SPEAKER_00 16:18

For sure, for sure. So, yeah, so that pulled me back, and then um, and then I went back to work in February and I was just determined. I was like, we're we're fixing this. I'm back. And I got the whole team invested in a refreshed strategy, a new, uh new vision we went through for 12 months, the next 12 months. I was like, scrap five years. We're not doing five years, everything's kind of, you know, in turmoil at the moment. Let's focus on the next 12 months. What are the essential things that we need to be executing on for the next 12 months? Got everybody involved from our support staff to principals, and that shifted things for us. Like everyone was almost reinvested in our strategy and in our vision. And from there, everything just kept going up and up and up.

SPEAKER_02 17:13

So you offered clarity, and at the end of 2024, you also purchased the practice, you did a mergers and active, which is great.

SPEAKER_00 17:20

So which was not part of the strategic plan.

SPEAKER_02 17:23

Sometimes things just happen. Yeah. Now there's a couple of things that I really want to talk about because as I mentioned before we started having a soft spot for this, you actually donate part of your turnover as well. So that's can you tell us a bit about that and why you started and where you donate?

SPEAKER_00 17:37

Yeah, absolutely. So since 2018, we introduced a program at Legalite called the Giving Project, where we donate 1% of our revenue to a charity of a team member's choice.

SPEAKER_02 17:48

I love that part because people are really engaged with you. Yep. I love that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 17:52

Yeah. I love it too because our team, you know, everyone's human. We're going through different things, or we have been through different things in our life to be able to feel like the work that you're doing day to day and you're also contributing.

SPEAKER_02 18:06

And the thing is, what I love about that is the core concept is giving. What a beautiful thing. That's the first and foremost to me. But to get someone really engaged, you know, some people are more, you know, my son's deaf, so that we used to donate to the deaf society, which is important, cancer everyone's touch. But for me, homelessness, which hasn't impacted me directly, it's what we support here. But how beautiful that you can actually input everyone's. And I really, I really loved and I saw that. So every month someone picks a charity and they donate and just rotate yourself.

SPEAKER_00 18:39

Yeah, we essentially just have a roster. Yep. And and it's been really meaningful because often as individuals, we can feel quite helpless and not know how we can give back or help a cause that's important to us, or even just honor and recognize a particular cause. So through the business, I feel like that's also given me a platform to give back that I wouldn't be able to on an individual level. Um, and the team feels the same. So yeah, so that's been really fantastic. And in the last since we launched it, we've um donated close to$50,000 to various charities. Thank you. But um, yeah, I'm looking to uh, you know, build on that further. Like we do also offer pro bono support to the charities uh that we donate to every month. And and I just think that there's so much opportunity for businesses of every size, but in particular small businesses to give back that is so completely within reach.

SPEAKER_02 19:43

You know what it's as I said before, it's beautiful because you um it's good doing great things in business, and it's we're all in business to make money, but having an impact and having a purpose, and when your team rallies behind a purpose bigger than yourself, which is giving. That's what we at Reverenton, one of our proudest things is we work so much with St. Vincent of Paul's. When we do something great, um, I see the team how proud they are, how happy they are. And that now eight years doing the Vinnies, after a few years, people start to notice that you really care about this cause. This isn't a tax write-off. This isn't a I need to do this. This is something that generally is important to me. For me, it's driven our purpose exponentially. It's it jumps me out of bed in the morning because I go, we've raised X. My first thought is how do we go here now?

SPEAKER_00 20:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:33

And I'm already working on the next thing every year because it has an impact. And the la I done a few speeches recently in the power of corporate philanthropy. And now, after many years, I'm actually seeing the impact that's having.

SPEAKER_01 20:45

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 20:45

And how we're known and how we're perceived in the marketplace. And it's truly special. It's one of the nicest things for our company that I've seen the last 20 years, that would be one of the biggest feathers in our cap.

SPEAKER_00 20:56

And I think it attracts values aligned, clients, like minded people, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:04

It attracts like my my team's the same. We're all the same. I do the Vinnie Soup fans. I've went out with my team a few times and Would you like to come? And I'm like, yeah, yep, yep. Then we dive together and we have fun while we're doing it, and we're raising awareness because everything starts with a conversation, everything starts with awareness. Anything. So you throw money at something, you're uh you're helping the symptom, but you're not understanding the root cause on how you can solve that issue. Now, some people might here's a five, ten grand donation because I need to get rid of some money tax write-off or corporate responsibility. But where's that money going? Yeah. Are you looking at the symptom or the cause?

SPEAKER_00 21:41

Yeah, what's the impact?

SPEAKER_02 21:42

The root cause of it is do I care enough to try to understand the root cause of this so I can really so that money can go a long way. So I thought that would really that was really incredible.

SPEAKER_00 21:52

Yeah, and I think also small businesses underestimate how much power they've got to contribute and to make. An impact. I often speak to business owners who say, you know, like, we we don't make that much per annum. So it's not going to be much. But legalite over the last five years, we were a very, very small firm to begin with. And it's over time. It's the cumulative effect over five years, you know, that I was surprised when I saw it. I was expecting it to be like five grand.

SPEAKER_02 22:25

But not only that, put the money aside. Put if it's five grand fifty or a million dollars. It doesn't matter. Can you have a conversation?

SPEAKER_00 22:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:32

Can you raise awareness?

SPEAKER_00 22:33

Yes, absolutely. More than that.

SPEAKER_02 22:35

So when people say it's a financial contribution, I say to them, I'm blessed beyond belief. I'm very, very lucky. I'm healthy. I run a great business. I can give my money and my time. So I'm fortunate to be able to give both. But if you're not in that position, don't tell me you can't have a conversation. Don't tell me you can't raise awareness. Yes. Now you can recruit someone with money. You can recruit a business owner. You can discuss that conversation. It starts with a conversation. And you can get as little. Now I work at Vinny's when I do the soup fans a couple of times and I go there. I don't work there, but I've worked there a few days. Let me tell you, I've seen people there that are retired. I've seen people like a shout-out to Toa, who's been doing it for years. Volunteer work. Now, by the way, how much is he paying to volunteer? Nothing. Yeah, nothing. But he's time. I'm not saying his times are valuable. So if you don't have the money, do you have the time to help?

SPEAKER_00 23:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:27

Can you have a conversation? You can mobilize that so in so many ways. It's not all about financial contribution, it's about time.

SPEAKER_00 23:35

Yeah, that's it.

SPEAKER_02 23:36

It's about awareness.

SPEAKER_00 23:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:37

So when people say I don't have the money, no problem.

SPEAKER_00 23:40

What else have you got? Yeah. And I think a lot of businesses have aligned products or services that they could contribute as well. So for example, I sit on the board of the nappy collective, which distributes nappies to families in need.

SPEAKER_02 23:53

So what it's called Napi Collective.

SPEAKER_00 23:54

Yeah. Yeah. That's right. And if you think about, you might not be able to donate nappies, but there's, you know, a trucking company that throws the nappies in the back of their truck on the same route that they're going on to deliver nappies to, you know, women's shelters or disadvantaged communities. So there's other ways that you can use what you're already doing.

SPEAKER_01 24:17

Your resource, your tools.

SPEAKER_00 24:18

Use your resources. And not-for-profits and charities are, you know, they're calling out for that support, not just money.

SPEAKER_02 24:25

They need it. Yeah. Because support, like Vinny's has 96% volunteers. Like when I was doing the sleep out, I thought, how can I do more? So we came up with a concept where we were going to buy a house through what I do, pay it off and donate it, which we did this year and sold it for 840,000.

SPEAKER_00 24:42

Amazing.

SPEAKER_02 24:42

Now we made a gain of 250,000. You know how much tax we paid zero tax because it was for a charity. So I used my resources and my expertise to buy a house well, negotiate well, made all this money as well. Yeah. No capital gains. Yeah. So there's ways you can move, exactly as the nappy example that you gave, there's so many ways. And you know what it is? It's about creatively thinking or asking the question, how can I help? How can I be of service?

SPEAKER_01 25:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:10

When you ask those questions, you start to understand. I guarantee you, these non-for-profits, I guarantee you, amazing organizations like Venice. Well, they'll find a way for you to help. Hey, why don't you come on the Super Vans? Why don't you come to Kensington and pack some food? I've done it. And these people that you meet, they're amazing.

SPEAKER_01 25:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:28

They're retired people that are want to they want to do something. Some of them are young kids that will volunteer their weekends and they do it for years. Like when I'm talking to them, how many years have you been doing? And I said to them, This is incredible. Yeah. You're an amazing person. And I'm going out and they're, how long have you been at Vinice for? And when I was in the soup vans, I interviewed, I feel like I'm interrogating everyone, but I just love it. I want to know.

SPEAKER_00 25:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:50

And I was just five years, 10 years, 12 years.

SPEAKER_00 25:53

And I'm like, It's so humbling.

SPEAKER_02 25:55

I go, Matt, I don't, I go, I'm I feel grateful that I'm with you here, you know?

SPEAKER_00 25:59

Yeah, it's so within reach. Um, so yeah, so I'm um on this topic, I'm starting a for-purpose enterprise called Good Co., which is exactly this conversation. It's how can you give back in a way that's aligned with you, your resources, your time? You don't need privilege. There's 97% of businesses in Australia, small businesses. If we all gave back in a tiny way, you know, imagine the impact.

SPEAKER_02 26:25

And as we said, it doesn't have to be financial. Everyone thinks it's astigmatism, it's financial. It can be many ways. I will say if you're super privileged and lucky like me, throw them all in there, throw your time, throw your resource, and invest as well. For sure. Now, I do want to mention, because I read as well, you're about to start a podcast.

SPEAKER_00 26:42

Yes. Bold ideas. Thank you. Um, hopefully it's as successful as yours. I'm sure it will be.

SPEAKER_02 26:51

And I'd love to, I would love to be on it if you'd have to.

SPEAKER_00 26:53

I would love to have you on it.

SPEAKER_02 26:55

I know I know it'll be very good and successful. I think podcasts are amazing because you meet great people, you share their knowledge, and it's I think it's just a great thing.

SPEAKER_01 27:03

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 27:04

I've enjoyed it. I started this um, I think in 219, and this is our seventh season at the moment. And as I mentioned off air, we're about to go to Cyprus in a month, the film and London.

SPEAKER_01 27:16

Oh, beautiful.

SPEAKER_02 27:17

So I'm pretty for fortune. And it's been filmed in America now. Um as it's become a custom, I could sit here and talk all day with you, Marianne, about law and business. Yeah. Are you ready for your quick fire question? Sure. Okay. What's the most important skill in your industry today?

SPEAKER_00 27:36

I think in my industry, and I cross over into a couple of industries, uh, being legal, franchising, and business, the business world. Um I think vulnerability, and I think vulnerability is a skill.

SPEAKER_02 27:51

Being authentic and honest.

SPEAKER_00 27:52

Yes. And I do too. And don't shy away from talking about the real stuff and the hard stuff. Um, it is a skill because it's so uncomfortable.

SPEAKER_02 28:02

Like you know what it is. Um, no one does you better than you. Yeah. Authenticity is important because it shows that we're all exactly the same. We're human beings.

SPEAKER_01 28:11

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 28:12

And when people have a certain facade, show me who you are. Prefer to be hated for someone that I am than love for someone I'm not.

SPEAKER_00 28:19

And if if yeah, if you're hated for it, they're not your people.

SPEAKER_02 28:22

Yeah, but that's fine too. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 28:25

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 28:25

I I prefer that because people are honest and up front. Yes. What's one thing that you're passionate about outside your work and your family, of course?

SPEAKER_00 28:33

It would be uh giving back. So uh finding new ways to make an impact and leave a positive mark on the world.

SPEAKER_02 28:43

I love that answer. What's your favorite travel destination?

SPEAKER_00 28:47

Oh, Santorini. And I don't think I'm gonna get back there until the kids are older.

SPEAKER_02 28:51

I'm gonna share a funny story with you very quickly. I went to Santorini with three of my friends, all men, and I said to them, This would be you could bring a woman here that hated you and you proposed her, she's gonna say yes to you. She'll say yes.

SPEAKER_00 29:02

I go so good on the spot.

SPEAKER_02 29:03

It'd be such a beautiful place. She would say no.

SPEAKER_00 29:06

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_02 29:08

What is the most exciting project that you're working on right now?

SPEAKER_00 29:11

The bold ideas podcast. Loving it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:15

What's your favorite way to spend your weekend?

SPEAKER_00 29:17

With my kids. Just whatever. Going to a play cafe, going to a playground, just being present with my kids.

SPEAKER_02 29:23

What's the best investment you've ever made? It could be a financial or a personal one.

SPEAKER_00 29:28

Investing in myself, starting a business.

SPEAKER_02 29:33

Having the courage to follow through. What's your favorite quote?

SPEAKER_00 29:36

Um, I love a Richard Branson quote that says, if it's something like, if you really want to do something, but you're not sure you can, say yes and then figure it out later.

SPEAKER_02 29:49

I I I met him in 219. Did you? Well, I was invited to Neckar Island. I spent five nights there, 22 people around the world, three Australians. Really nice. That's amazing. And he was a beautiful man. I shared a breakfast just one-on-one with him. I shared two meals with him one-on-one. Oh, pretty cool. How do you stay productive during long work days?

SPEAKER_00 30:09

With a lot of help. Like I delegate, I outsource, I get support from my team. Yes, absolutely. I could not do anything without my team.

SPEAKER_02 30:20

You know, you mentioned before you have an amazing supporting husband. People go, How do you do so much? I said, It's very simple. I have the best sister on the planet, an amazing PA and the best team. I said, When when they say, How do you do so much? I said, It's a reflection of the people around me. I couldn't otherwise. Yeah. But for a female, it's got to be that times 10 because you've got the the kid element, you've got the birth element, yes, you've got all the other stuff. Yeah. What's your favorite part of your job?

SPEAKER_00 30:46

Funnily enough, sales. I love sales.

SPEAKER_02 30:51

How do you recharge when you're feeling drained? Had an emotional day, flat out, you're feeling down. How do you bring yourself back up?

SPEAKER_00 30:59

I practice mindfulness and I remind myself that tomorrow is a new day. As you were saying earlier, that's a big uh mantra for me.

SPEAKER_02 31:07

You know what? If you're grateful and you see that we've got a lot going on, you mentioned two beautiful kids, a husband, a business. Things are okay. You're so grateful. Things are not that bad. So when you wake up with that, and Anthony Robbins talks like it's a good place. Yes. And the most important question on a scale of one to ten, how much have you enjoyed being on our podcast?

SPEAKER_00 31:25

Oh, 10 out of 10.

SPEAKER_02 31:27

Um, remember if you like Relentless, don't forget to like, share, and subscribe for more episodes. Thank you so much for being on the podcast.

SPEAKER_00 31:35

Thank you so much for having me, Chris.