Janine Allis - The Accidental Entrepreneur, The Survivor Edition

A few years ago I was playing cards with my gran, who at the time was 93. She was telling me what it was like to be a woman of the 1940s. She told me when World War II started most of the men left to fight, and she and her friends started working in an ammunition factory. It made me think about what an unusual time it must have been when life as you know it suddenly turns upside down, your husband leaves you for five years and you have to survive by working in a factory. She started to make her own money and felt the freedom that this brings, only to be told to get back in her box when the men came home. To think at that time she was not allowed to work or have a loan in her name seems unbelievable today.

In her time, women were not the bosses and certainly did not run businesses. In her mind, what man would even listen to a woman in the workforce? She constantly told my mother not to get above herself. For her, a woman had very little to no real power, even in her own home. It took my gran years to understand that at Boost, I (her granddaughter, not her grandson-in-law) was running the business. She couldnt get her head around a woman boss that was not what girls did in her day. Why would they even listen to Janine? she would ask. Funny enough, it took a Herald Sun article for her to believe that I had actually started Boost (clearly only what you read in the paper is true). This wasnt popular belief from 100 years ago; this was my gran, only two generations away. Thankfully times have changed.

For me, life is a marathon, not a sprint. Mind you, it took me years to realise this. When I was younger I wanted everything now. (Sound familiar?) I did not have a patient bone in my body. I am getting better at this, as I love the journey that I am on and appreciate every day.

If you are picking up this book for the first time, here is what you are in for

The first thing is that you will not be blown away by my literary skills. Like singing and painting, I have no talent in this area. But what you will read is my honest account, warts and all, of my journey to date. I go into detail about the craziest thing I ever said yes to, which was Survivor , and, finally, I share with you all the things I wish I had known before I went into business.

The great thing about getting older (because there are a lot of negatives and you have to see the positives) is that you get to embrace who you are, as you see all aspects of your journey. What I hope is that people see that its okay to not get everything right in life. You dont always have to be happy with the decisions that you make. And, yes, you are very dumb when you are younger but, if youre lucky, this enables you to have adventures that you wouldnt have had otherwise because you arent as stupid as when you did all those crazy, mad things!

Often people are afraid to make mistakes they live a life half-lived because of it. This story is my journey from an ordinary girl raised in the burbs, to marrying my soulmate Jeff, starting Boost Juice and Retail Zoo, becoming a Shark on the TV show Shark Tank and learning to survive on Survivor .

Most recently, I have also become an ambassador with Australia for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) where I am thrilled to be travelling to Jordan to learn first-hand how the Leading Women Fund will be utilised and I hope to create increased awareness about the fund and the agency in general.

For all those people who have given me feedback on the first and second editions of this book thank you! I was surprised and delighted by the impact that this book has made on peoples businesses and lives. Im happy to say that the book is a bestseller; my English teacher from high school will honestly never believe it!

What is different in this book is it brings my story, and the story of Boost, into the present day including some of the experiences Ive had on Shark Tank and Survivor . This book is full of my lessons; these are the heart of what I believe you need to do to be a success in business and life. Success is not just money in the bank: its having your family around you, playing cards or just enjoying each others company. I learned this lesson along the way, sometimes the hard way. Whether you never want to start a business, or you have started down that crazy business road maybe you are in start-up stage, perhaps growing like a weed, thinking about expanding into new territories, or even if your business is still just a great idea theres something here for you. No matter where you are on your journey, its always helpful to be reminded of the simple things that can make all the difference in helping you become a success.