The Lazy CEO Podcast with Jane Lu

This week on The Lazy CEO, Jane is joined by Renata Black, co-founder and CEO of EBY, the performance intimates brand that's grown from $10 million to $75 million in revenue in just 3 years, while competing against some of the biggest names in the industry. What makes Renata's story so compelling is that this wasn't an overnight success. She spent years refining the business, received 436 investor nos, nearly lost the company, and even put her family's life savings on the line before everything finally clicked. In this episode, we get into: Why the founders who make it aren't always the smartest, but the ones who can endure the most pain. How Renata built a category-defining product by obsessing over customer problems. Why she believes innovation is what separates market leaders from everyone else. The storytelling behind EBY's sold-out launches and the marketing strategy that's helped the brand stand out in a crowded category. Connect with us: Follow The Lazy CEO podcast: @thelazyceo_podcast @thelazyceopod Stay updated with Jane Lu: @thelazyceo Connect with Renata: @renatamblack Check out EBY: @joineby See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Help My Small Business , Jane is joined by Gabrielle Requena, founder of Wrinkles Schminkles, to review Shay’s family-run Sydney salon, Blossom Hair and Beauty . After rebranding from The Bridal Bar, Shay wants to attract more customers beyond the bridal market - but she’s struggling to shift how locals see the business. Jane and Gabrielle unpack how to make Blossom stand out, attract more busy mums and get the business in front of the right customers online. Connect with us: Follow The Lazy CEO podcast: @thelazyceo_podcast @thelazyceopod Stay updated with Jane Lu: @thelazyceo Connect with Gabrielle: @gabriellereq Check out Wrinkles Schminkles: @wrinklesschminkles Follow Blossom Hair & Beauty: @blossomhairandbeautyco See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week's episode is a proper debrief with Jane on everything that's been happening lately, both in business and behind the scenes. Jane goes down memory lane, reflecting on where Showpo started, how far the business has come and what it feels like to now be sitting in her 11th office. She also chats through her new social strategy, what's changing about the way she's approaching content and why she's thinking differently about her personal brand. And on the personal side, Jane gets into what's next for her, what growth looks like on the other side of 40 and the things she's thinking about as she heads into this next chapter. Episodes mentioned: #141 Dr. Mathen’s Health Playbook for High Performers and What Most CEOs Get Wrong Connect with us: Follow The Lazy CEO podcast: @thelazyceo_podcast @thelazyceopod Stay updated with Jane Lu: @thelazyceo See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on The Lazy CEO, Jane is joined by Gabrielle Requena, founder of Wrinkles Schminkles, the beauty brand behind the reusable medical-grade silicone wrinkle patches that pioneered an entirely new skincare category. Gabrielle launched the business in 2014 with one hero product, bootstrapped it from day one, grew it to $20 million in annual revenue, expanded into 22 countries, and after 12 years, successfully exited the business. In this episode, we get into: What it was really like to be on Shark Tank, and the rejection that followed. The TikTok that generated $11M in sales! The actual cost of selling your business: the physical, mental and emotional toll. What life is like post-exit. Connect with us: Follow The Lazy CEO podcast: @thelazyceo_podcast @thelazyceopod Stay updated with Jane Lu: @thelazyceo Connect with Gabrielle: @gabriellereq Check out Wrinkles Schminkles: @wrinklesschminkles See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on The Lazy CEO podcast, Jane is joined again by Grace Garrick, founder of Movement Agency. After years of advising founders on how to build brands and show up publicly, Grace is back to break down the difference between building in public and founder-led branding, and how to know which is right for your business. In this episode, we get into: The risks and rewards of becoming the face of your brand, and what happens when you eventually want to step away. How to build a personal brand that cuts through without chasing virality. Whether you're building your personal brand or figuring out how much of yourself should sit at the centre of your business, Grace breaks down how to make it work for you. If you haven't listened to Grace's first episode, catch up on The PR Playbook: What Will Actually Shift the Needle and Grow Your Business ft. Grace Garrick. Connect with us: Follow The Lazy CEO podcast: @thelazyceo_podcast @thelazyceopod Stay updated with Jane Lu: @thelazyceo Connect with Grace: @gracegarrick See what Movement Agency is up to: @mvmnt_agency See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Help My Small Business , Jane is joined by Kia Buckley, founder of Kikiva Collection , to review Wanda's business, Estetika , a beauty accessories brand known for its premium makeup bags. After landing Nordstrom, Wanda's facing the realities of wholesale growth: pressure to expand her product range, trademark issues in the US, and whether wholesale is accelerating her business or distracting from it. Jane and Kia unpack the realities of wholesale growth, why landing big retailers isn't always the win it seems, and how to scale without losing sight of your brand. By the end of this episode, you'll learn: How to know if your business is actually ready for wholesale Why you shouldn't let retailers dictate your product strategy Why more stockists doesn't always mean a stronger business Connect with us: Follow The Lazy CEO podcast: @thelazyceo_podcast @thelazyceopod Stay updated with Jane Lu: @thelazyceo Connect with Kia: @kia_buckley See what Kikiva is up to: @kikiva.collection See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on The Lazy CEO podcast, I'm joined by Kia Buckley, founder and CEO of Kikiva Collection. Kia started the brand at 19 from her apartment garage with $10,000 she'd saved working three jobs. Four years later, Kikiva has become an eight-figure activewear brand, built alongside the loyal community she's grown by sharing the journey on TikTok. In this episode, we get into: How Kia built an eight-figure brand before turning 24, and whether starting young was actually her biggest advantage. The cash flow realities of scaling fast, selling out launches, and growing a product business. Why documenting the journey on TikTok helped Kikiva build a genuine community, not just an audience. Whether you're starting out or scaling a brand, Kia's story is a reminder that there's no perfect time to start, and the messy parts are often where the biggest lessons come from. Connect with us: Follow The Lazy CEO podcast: @thelazyceo_podcast @thelazyceopod Stay updated with Jane Lu: @thelazyceo Connect with Kia: @kia_buckley See what Kikiva is up to: @kikiva.collection See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week's episode is all about the people red flags that can quietly cost you money, time, energy and sometimes your sanity. Jane is joined once again by her best friend Jude Batrac, a workplace culture and leadership expert with two decades of experience across Google, Coca-Cola and News Corp. Together, they unpack the five biggest people red flags they've seen in business partners, investors, senior hires, employees and even friends in business, bringing both a founder's perspective and an HR leader's lens. They dive into why misaligned values, poor communication, ego over outcome, a lack of accountability, and ignoring your founder instinct can become some of the most expensive mistakes you'll make in business. They also share the green flags worth looking for, and the qualities of the people who make businesses stronger, not harder. Whether you're hiring your first employee, building out your leadership team or deciding who deserves a seat at the table, this episode will help you become more discerning about the people you build with. Connect with us: Follow The Lazy CEO podcast: @thelazyceo_podcast @thelazyceopod Stay updated with Jane Lu: @thelazyceo Connect with Jude: @jude_batrac_mc See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on The Lazy CEO podcast, we're opening up the PR playbook with the person who lives and breathes it, and fair warning, this episode will crack everything you thought you knew about PR, have you re-evaluating your next six months, and set you up to do it better. Grace Garrick founded Movement Agency at 24, entirely self-funded. Seven years on, it's one of Australia's most respected creative comms agencies, the one the biggest names in fashion, beauty and lifestyle call when they need to cut through. She built the business on the belief that attention is earned through ideas, not just exposure, and she knows exactly what gets a journalist's attention and exactly what brands are wasting their budget on. In this episode, we get into: Why old-school PR alone no longer gets your brand noticed, and what to do instead. The biggest misconceptions founders have about PR, press, influencers, gifting and paid partnerships. How to make your brand PR-ready: the founder stories, thought leadership and counterintuitive angles journalists actually chase. Why authenticity, original experiences and real opinions are worth more than ever in the age of AI. This is the modern PR playbook for founders who want to shift the needle, build real credibility and build a brand people can't stop talking about. Connect with us: Follow The Lazy CEO podcast: @thelazyceo_podcast @thelazyceopod Stay updated with Jane Lu: @thelazyceo Connect with Grace: @gracegarrick See what Movement Agency is up to: @mvmnt_agency See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week's episode is a very special one! Jane is marking a big milestone, her 40th birthday, with a tell-all letter to her younger self: the anxious version, the ambitious version, the broke version, the one who cared way too much about what people thought. Joining her is her best friend Jude Batrac, a workplace culture and employee experience leader with experience across Coca-Cola, Google and News Corp. Jude has coached hundreds of leaders and brings a sharp lens on what actually shapes confidence, decision-making and resilience, both in life and at work. They talk about why you don't need everyone to understand your decisions, how a lot of anxiety disappears after you make that one tough call, and why outgrowing people doesn't make you a bad person. They also get into why the life you're jealous of often comes with trade-offs you wouldn't choose, and the idea that your 20s are for trying things while your 30s are for figuring out what actually matters. Links mentioned! 40 Lessons I'd Tell My 20-Year-Old Self Listen - Bali Buddies: Karlie Cummins on Creating the Ultimate Lifestyle Business Connect with us: Follow The Lazy CEO podcast: @thelazyceo_podcast @thelazyceopod Stay updated with Jane Lu: @thelazyceo Connect with Jude: @jude_batrac_mc See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Help My Small Business, Jane is joined by Natassia Nicolao, founder of Conserving Beauty, the science-backed skincare brand she scaled to eight figures. With her experience building and growing a brand from the ground up, Natassia brings that hands-on expertise to review Amelia's business, Dulese , a natural refillable deodorant brought over from New Zealand to launch into the Australian market. By the end of this episode, you'll learn: The costly mistake founders make treating Australia and New Zealand as one market How to build genuine relationships with influencers and media without a big budget Why a small, loyal audience always beats chasing reach Connect with us: Follow The Lazy CEO podcast: @thelazyceo_podcast @thelazyceopod Stay updated with Jane Lu: @thelazyceo Connect with Natassia: @natasssia @natassia__ Follow Conserving Beauty: @conservingbeauty @conservingbeauty See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on The Lazy CEO Podcast, Jane is back with Linda Hammond, co-founder of Quay Australia and founder of OTRA Eyewear, for part two of their conversation. If you haven't listened to PART 1 yet, start there - it's a MUST LISTEN. In this episode, they get into the chapters most founders never talk about. Linda opens up about what it actually felt like to sell a nine-figure business to private equity, why the exit wasn't the finish line she expected, and how she's channelling everything she learned at Quay into building OTRA Eyewear. In this episode, she dives into: The truth about selling a nine-figure business to private equity, and why it's more complicated than it looks from the outside. How the industry has shifted since 1999, and how she's approaching marketing and team building differently with OTRA. What it's really like to build a business with your partner. Connect with us: Follow The Lazy CEO podcast: @thelazyceo_podcast @thelazyceopod Stay updated with Jane Lu: @thelazyceo Connect with Linda: @lindamhammond Follow OTRA Eyewear: @otraeyewear See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on The Lazy CEO Podcast, Jane sits down with Linda Hammond, co-founder of Quay Australia and founder of OTRA Eyewear - the woman who quietly built one of the most recognisable eyewear brands in the world, sold it for nine figures, and is now doing it all over again. Linda left school at 14 with no plan and no industry experience. What she built instead started with a market stall and a music festival in 1999, and grew into a brand stocked in 5,000 retailers globally, the first collab Kylie Jenner ever said yes to, and a Desi Perkins drop that sold 20,000 units and $7M in just 12 minutes. Now, with OTRA Eyewear scaling fast, Linda is proving the first time was no fluke. In this episode, she dives into: The exact first steps that got Quay off the ground, and what actually moved the needle early on. How she cracked retail, from City Beach to Nasty Gal, and the decisions that changed the trajectory of the brand. The strategy behind landing some of the world's biggest names, including Shay Mitchell, Desi Perkins, and Kylie Jenner. Connect with us: Follow The Lazy CEO podcast: @thelazyceo_podcast @thelazyceopod Stay updated with Jane Lu: @thelazyceo Connect with Linda: @lindamhammond Follow OTRA Eyewear: @otraeyewear See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Jane challenges the idea that stress is something to eliminate entirely, and calls out the rise and grind culture that has a lot of founders quietly exhausted. This one is for anyone who has ever felt guilty for sleeping in. In this episode, you'll learn: Why not all stress is bad, and how to tell the difference between pressure that sharpens you and pressure that is just noise Why the 5am club and hustle aesthetic is not a universal blueprint for success, and why so many founders are quietly exhausted from trying to fit the mould Jane's three-question framework for deciding which stress in your business is worth keeping and which to cut for good This episode is brought to you by Xero . Blast past tax time stress with Xero. That's Xero with an X! See what Xero can do for your business, by checking them out now! Connect with us: Follow The Lazy CEO podcast: @thelazyceo_podcast @thelazyceopod Stay updated with Jane Lu: @thelazyceo See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Help My Small Business, Jane is joined by Hannah Vasicek, founder of Francesca Jewellery , to review Sylvie's business Unicorn Cart - a Shopify app that boosts average order value through personalised upsells, free gifts, and cart rewards. By the end of this episode, you'll learn: Why doing one acquisition channel really well will always beat spreading yourself across five and how to figure out which one is yours. How to stop leads going cold by leading with value upfront Why speaking to everyone means converting no one and how you can niche down without burning your existing base. This episode is brought to you by Xero . Blast past tax time stress with Xero. That's Xero with an X! See what Xero can do for your business, by checking them out now! Connect with us: Follow The Lazy CEO podcast: @thelazyceo_podcast @thelazyceopod Stay updated with Jane Lu: @thelazyceo Connect with Hannah: @hannah.vasicek Follow Francesca Jewellery: @francescajewellery See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

ICYMI: This week, Jane sits down with Eugene Healey, brand strategist, educator, and creator who has helped the likes of Google, Spotify, and Red Bull cut through the noise and actually stick in people's minds. If you're still running the old influencer playbook, throwing product at lifestyle stars and hoping for the best, it's not going to cut it anymore. Eugene breaks down exactly why everything has changed, how to find and partner with creators who educate, entertain, and own niche communities, and what it actually takes to make your brand impossible to ignore. Plus: how to set up your brand identity so your audience knows exactly who you are the second they land on your page, and why building consistent brand assets from day one is the difference between content that disappears and content that compounds. The brands winning right now are playing by a completely different rulebook. Connect with us: Follow The Lazy CEO Podcast: @thelazyceo_podcast Stay updated with Jane Lu: @thelazyceo Follow Eugene Healy: @eugbrandstrat See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week on The Lazy CEO Podcast, Jane sits down with Natassia Nicolao, founder of Conserving Beauty , the Australian skincare brand she built on a Bachelor of Science, a proprietary dissolving technology, and a refusal to take no for an answer. Natassia identified a genuine gap in the market: people with acne-prone and sensitive skin being failed by traditional beauty. She built clinically proven, water-free solutions around them, secured a world-first technology by out-pitching a major beauty conglomerate, and scaled to an eight-figure valuation with backing from top venture capital and shelf space across Australia and into the UK. In this episode, they dive into: What product development and packaging iteration actually looks like in practice, and the costly mistakes worth avoiding. Why your customers are your best growth strategists, and how to build systems to actually hear them. How she beat a major beauty conglomerate to secure the technology behind her first product, and why a compelling story will always outperform a spreadsheet. Connect with us: Follow The Lazy CEO podcast: @thelazyceo_podcast @thelazyceopod Stay updated with Jane Lu: @thelazyceo Connect with Natassia: @natasssia @natassia__ Follow Conserving Beauty: @conservingbeauty @conservingbeauty See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode of Help My Small Business, Jane is joined by Michael Porter, founder of Skin Control , Australia's No.1 Acne Care Brand, which sold over 4.8 million pimple patch packets in 2025. With his experience scaling a small, niche skincare brand into a national success, Michael is bringing that hands-on expertise to review Melanie's business, Youth Skin - a safe, effective deodorant brand made for kids and teens. By the end of this episode, you'll learn: How to use a personal brand to build trust, tell your story, and drive conversions The retail strategies that get your product into more stores and keep it selling Key lessons for early-stage brands - proving demand, boosting retailer confidence, and owning your niche This episode is brought to you by Xero . Blast past tax time stress with Xero. That's Xero with an X! See what Xero can do for your business, by checking them out now! Connect with us: Follow The Lazy CEO podcast: @thelazyceo_podcast @thelazyceopod Stay updated with Jane Lu: @thelazyceo Connect with Michael: @michaelwporter Follow Skin Control: @skincontrolau See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this Ask Me Anything episode Jane pulls back the curtain on the reality of being married to your business partner, and the AI tool that's completely changed how her team operates. Plus what actually keeps her up at night running a nine figure fashion brand, and the apps and hacks she swears by. Nothing is off limits. Connect with us: Follow The Lazy CEO podcast: @thelazyceo_podcast @thelazyceopod Stay updated with Jane Lu: @thelazyceo Leave a comment letting Jane know if you like this style of solo episode and send any questions you want her to unpack further to hello@thelazyceo.com ! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Jane gets honest about what stress really looked like behind the scenes of building Showpo. This one is for anyone who is in the thick of it right now. In this episode, you'll learn: Why ignoring stress does not make it go away, and what actually helped instead The storytime of Jane's lowest moment building Showpo Why letting go is not just a systems problem, it is an emotional one This episode is brought to you by Xero . Blast past tax time stress with Xero. That's Xero with an X! See what Xero can do for your business, by checking them out now! Connect with us: Follow The Lazy CEO podcast: @thelazyceo_podcast @thelazyceopod Stay updated with Jane Lu: @thelazyceo See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.